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 […]
Scientists Finally Find Elusive Hormone Leptin in Birds
Researchers have found leptin – a hormone that regulates body fat storage, metabolism and appetite – in the Peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), the mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) and the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata). How does the Arctic tern fly more than 70,000 km in its annual roundtrip North Pole-to-South Pole migration? How does the Emperor penguin […]
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 […]