It’s that time of year again, when the weather is actually starting to feel like spring, and the lake near where I live has finally melted! This change was immediately heralded by a swarm of waterfowl, like always; and this year I’ve already seen Common and Hooded Mergansers, Ring-Billed Gulls, and American White Pelicans on the lake. Yesterday, I took a canoe trip to see all the birds on the lake, and this is what I found!
First, I spotted a pair of Hooded Mergansers, a male and a female. We went right along the shore then, and I saw lots of very loud Common Grackles, a pair of Mourning Doves, and a very nice squirrel, before I turned my attention to an enormous flock of gulls – probably all Ring-Billed – settled on the water.
Moving on, we spotted a pair of beautiful Common Mergansers, four more flying overhead, and another Hooded Merganser couple. This was followed by a mystery waterbird, which I originally thought was a Common Loon – which I’d had yet to see this year – but realized while scrutinizing the photos I’d collected that the markings didn’t quite line up. The beak was too long and thin, and the chest was much too dark.
Then, we passed a female Common Merganser, noticed a mixed flock of Common and Hooded Mergansers across the lake, saw one male Mallard (which I suspect was a decoy, not a real duck, but can’t be sure), and watched a rather flamboyant male Northern Cardinal for a bit.
Finally, with our trip drawing to a close, came the most exciting part. We spotted a large flock of some sort of duck, and drew our canoe in as close as possible without scaring them off. I took as many photos as I dared (my camera is pretty loud), hoping this would be what I thought it was. They appeared to have a crest… their markings weren’t recognizable as any bird I’d seen before… When I got home, I looked the pictures I’d taken over carefully, and it was! A Red-Breasted Merganser, the only Merganser missing from my life list! They only pass by Minnesota during migration, so I was excited to have caught these.
With this wonderful highlight over, we headed home after watching one last flock of Common Mergansers. It was an incredible trip, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the spring, in hopes I’ll see even more beautiful waterbirds!