northeast-flora-and-fauna

Here are some more winter ducks that you shouldn't expect to see when things warm up: Buffleheads . They're not around my area in big numbers, and most of my pictures were taken in the fall of 2020. They're small ducks [1] that are mostly black and white, so at a distance they probably blend in inconspicuously with Ring-necked Ducks and Hooded Mergansers , though their closest relatives in this area is the Common Goldeneye . The females have black heads and back with a white patch around their cheeks. A male without its breeding plumage looks similar, though the white patch is a bit larger. A male in breeding plumage though has that white patch expanding to cover pretty much all of the back of the head. These are considered one of our most monogamous ducks, so barring a death there's a pretty good chance these 2 were a couple. February 17, 2020 at Washington Valley Park Photo 66501906, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) [1] The only native duck that's ...

These are Green-winged Teals , a small duck that's theoretically here all winter. Almost all my sightings though have been in the spring, and the only exception was once in the fall. I suspect that although they might be kicking around in New Jersey during the winter in small numbers, it's when they pass through during migration that we're most likely to encounter these guys. (On the other hand, up north where they breed thousands can be found together.) We're supposed to be able to identify the males of these ducks due to their rufus-colored heads with a sizable green patch that starts at the eye and extends to the back of the head. But that's not what you'll see in my pictures. Remember when I showed that in certain light a green-headed Mallard can look purple instead? That seems to be happening here too with our Green-winged Teal friend.  April 22, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 197660298, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) Here's a male/female pa...