A second visit to Hammonasset Beach State Park was made a couple of days after my first on New Year’s Day when it was warmer with the park surprisingly crowded with visitors. I again made a motor birding tour as the ankle heals. I gravitated to the pond northwest of the traffic circle which I […]
Tag: Mallard
Don’t Prejudge A Cloudy Winter Day
When I looked out the window early this morning I was discouraged by the sight of piled up snow and grey skies. I decided to take a pass on birding for the day and headed to the local diner for breakfast but tossed my birding gear into my trunk just in case I had a […]
Pokémon birding
Yesterday I found myself trailing behind Jr and Jr Jr whilst they hunted Pokémons in Frognerparken. This suited Sr just fine as the small lakes here can house a few birds in the winter months. Yesterday there were no less than five species of duck with 100+ Mallard being accompanied by a young male Wigeon, […]
Pintail on ice
A new day and a new weather system. Overnight rain, clouds and a fresh southerly wind were not the best birding conditions and wasn’t eve sure I would bother but eventually decided that it might be worth checking the sea off Fornebu. Not much to write down in the notebook here except for a few […]
Spring has not sprung yet
At least here in Norfolk. Enjoyed the relatively nice weather today walking in Winterton Dunes. However I did not enjoy the birding too much, especially while getting all the spring reports coming in from Israel to my phone. I was obviously over-optimistic hoping to find a first wheatear or martin, but had practically nothing. Too […]
New Ducks in the Park
I was walking in Brooklyn Bridge Park last week, descending the north-most path in the water gardens. I heard plop plop. Two ducks had slipped from the little bridge into the water. They were two of three almost fully-grown immature mallard ducks with an adult female. They all looked at me for a moment, then […]
Mallard duck and bird magnetic navigation in migration
Anas platyrhynchos – Anseriformes – Anatidae – Camargue, Rhône delta, France – the Mallard duck is at the origin of many other domestic ducks species. In captivity it lives 6 times longer than the wild ones and has been domesticated before the chicken. Taking birds in flight is a real exercise and fun to practice […]
Hyotanike Lake
This morning I had a little bit of time and the weather was great, so I went to nearby Hyotanike lake to see what was happening. This lake has very nice scenery but is usually a bit low on bird life other than the resident Mallard and some introduced ducks. But the Barn Swallows love […]