May 29th - Birds/Waterfowl

Location - Union Bay Natural Area
Weather - warm, 70s, clear skies
Time -1:30-3:10

The birds group went first and split us up into sections to find birds to show us. The first one we saw was a swallow, and we talked about the different kinds, one which could be a barn swallow with a yellow belly and a forked tail, or a purple swallow. We saw some crows, and heard an interesting story about an experiment that showed crows can remember the faces of people they find threatening, and pass this information through several generations. Next we saw a virginia rail, with a long orange beak and a blackish/blueish/green color. Also an American Goldfinch, hummingbird, and cedar wax-wing (pale yellow belly and breast with a yellow stripe on the tail) were spotted. Black cat chickadees are very common to the area, as well as red winged blackbirds (which are heavily parasitized by cowbirds).

The waterfowl group also split us up into sections. The first part was where we learned about dabbling ducks. Dabbling ducks do not dive, expect for merganzers, which are fish eating ducks that fully submerge themselves when they eat, and use a cerrated bill to catch the fish. The most common at UBNA is the hooded merganzer. Cinnamon teals have bright red eyes and are sexually dimorphic. Next we talked about canada geese, which have 11 subspecies and weight up to 23 pounds and live 10-25 years. They are often harvested by hunters due to their excessive populations. Woodducks are the most beautiful of ducks and can reach speeds of 30 miles per hour, inhabiting marshes and swamps. Blue herons spend most of their time in the water as waders and are very methodical in their processes. They eat fish, rodents, and reptiles and swallow things whole. They have special powder that can congeal the oil off of fish in a clump that they brush off. Buffel head ducks are only here in the winter and are the smallest American duck. They migrate north to lay their eggs in woodpecker holes, and are monogamous. Mallards are sexually dimorphic and can be found pretty much anywhere in the world. Females are sometimes gang raped by groups of males without mates.

Posted on June 5, 2012 11:45 AM by ashersh