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It’s in your nature: Waterfowl beauties

Published March 19. 2022 08:05AM

My love of nature, in part, is attributed to the beauty of birds we have all over our area. My birding buddy Dave finds the ducks the most interesting and beautiful of birds.

To me, they fall in second place because I find the varieties of warblers, thrushes and vireos that arrive here in May to head my beauty list. But I will admit, the male waterfowl breeding plumage is absolutely stunning.

To a budding or novice birder, the ducks are easier to find/identify because of their larger size and that they are not hidden among the foliage and less active.

We are rather fortunate because a few local aquatic habitats are probably only a few miles from your home. Dave, Rich and I “hit” Beltzville Lake, Parryville Dam, the Lehigh Canal, Mauch Chunk Lake, Lizard Creek, the Lehigh River and even some farm ponds and the Phifer Ice Dams. A decent pair of binoculars will give you the opportunity to find and observe the waterfowl variety.

Of course, I won’t make you travel to those areas but I’m hoping my photos may pique your interest. Remember, almost all waterfowl use sexual dichromatism (males brighter colored than the females) and if you see a female duck without its mate, it may be harder to identify. The best time to see waterfowl is through the month of March, thus my timing to present this column for you.

All of these photos were taken in the Times News region except the Eurasian widgeon photographed at Cape May, New Jersey.

Remember, get out there to enjoy and appreciate what the Times News region has to offer.

Test Your Outdoor Knowledge: Which of these birds builds the most nests each year? A. robin, B. tree swallow, C. mourning dove, D. barn swallow, E. Eastern bluebird.

Last Week’s Trivia Answer: When a large flock of starlings twists and turns in unison this motion is called a murmuration.

Contact Barry Reed at breed71@gmail.com.

You don't have to go far to find them. A male hooded merganser swims in the Parryville Dam recently. BARRY REED/SPECIAL TO THE TIMES NEWS
A red-necked grebe shortly after a dive to catch small fish at Beltzville Lake.
A male bufflehead cruises on the Parryville Dam. Look for their sputtering display racing across the water's surface to impress a potential mate.
I found this female common merganser swimming in a cool Pohopoco Creek.
A drake and hen wood duck are framed by the shrubs hiding their small pond habitat in East Penn Township.
A rare duck, the Eurasian widgeon, swims in a backwater pond at Cape May.
Even beautiful in flight; a flock of snow geese flies overhead in a crisp, blue sky.
Don't overlook even a small pond. My birding buddy Dave alerted me to this male northern shoveler at the Phifer Ice Dam in Franklin Township.
Maybe it should be called a ring-billed duck. This male ring-necked duck was photographed at Beltzville Lake.
Not commonly seen in the east, a male canvasback duck joined the migrating waterfowl at Beltzville Lake in late winter.
This American widgeon, also called the baldpate, was feeding at Beltzville.