Springtime Ducks

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Today was the first off day that I had in a long while that was sunny and not pouring down rain. I had to get out and do some birding. The water is still very high just about everywhere, conditions that are very favorable for good water birds.

There were many coots walking around on the grass at the beach when I arrived at the lake. There were also a good deal of people walking around with dogs, but luckily for a change they were all on leashes. The birds only seemed to pay moderate attention to them.

Scanning the large flock of coots revealed about a dozen or so Bufflehead mixed in.

Male Bufflehead

The males were displaying and chasing one another.

And the females were uninterested of course...

After watching the Buffleheads, I rescanned the flock and found my first of the year/season Blue-winged Teal!

Blue-winged Teal

One decided to start swimming towards to me!

The teal came all the way up to the shore and stared me down, as if to say "I know I am a handsome duck, so quit staring at me!"

I preceded to walk along the shore, looking for birds and rescanning the flock of coots. I noticed 3 Bald Eagles flying high above the lake. Also, my FOS Double-crested Cormorants and Bonapartes Gulls. Scoping out the lake revealed a huge raft of ducks consisting mostly of scaup and bufflehead.

A group of highschool rowers started to pile into the park, so I decided to head for the car. That is when I noticed this sad sight:

A Ring-billed Gull with a lure stuck in its neck. There really wasn't anything that I could do, as the bird spooked and starting swimming to the middle of the lake. This is why fishermen should try to prevent the snapping of line as much as possible. However, I didn't have to end the day on this sad note. As I was getting near the car, my FOS Tree Swallows came out of nowhere and were flying all around me. Spring is here!

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Book review: The Crossley ID Guide - Eastern Birds

Tweet When I was just starting out birding, I steered clear of photographic guides. Most of the guides at this time had poor quality photos and only one photo per species/sex. Most also did not include photos of immatures whatsoever. However, with the arrival of digital photography, this has all changed.

The "Crossley ID Guide" emphasizes the use of "Jizz" for ID rather than focusing on field marks, a term that many birders aren't familiar with. For a definition of what "Jizz" refers to in birding, here is the Wikipedia entry for it.

Since birds are always moving and the observer doesn't always get to see birds in ideal conditions, this is a difficult task to accomplish. That being said, in my opinion, Richard Crossley does an excellent job portraying the jizz of the species being studied. He does this by including many photos of each species in their preferred habitats, much like one would see in the field. The plates are very busy, with both close and far away photos as well as different angles and lighting situations.


The use of text is very short and limited when describing a species, instead focusing more on creating a mental image of the bird using actual photographs. Crossley also includes a text description before each group of birds.

This guide is huge, much too large to take into the field in my opinion. Rather, this is a book that I would keep in the car or on my desk to refer to later (I rarely take any field guides with me in the field while birding).

The Crossley relies heavily on the use of the alpha codes for birds. I know many birders who absolutely despise the use of them. I use them quite often myself and see them being utilized more and more all the time. With the use of cell phone technology (which I know nothing about), it is a good bet that the four letter codes aren't going anywhere soon. You can find all the birds and their four letter codes in the front of the book, a feature I find handy.


I have heard it said that this guide cannot be used for identification. I disagree. I have always suggested that a beginning birder acquire as many field guides as they can. "The Crossely ID Guide" is definitely one that both beginning and seasoned birders will want to add to their library, as it goes beyond the typical field guide in that it actively invokes the birder to hone in their observational skills.


Disclosure: I had received this book free of charge from the publisher for the purpose of reviewing. The opinions expressed are solely my own. Tweet

Spring day, winter birds

Tweet Such a beautiful day, with temps in the 50's and sunny skies, I just had to get out to do some birding. I couldn't figure out if I wanted to go to the state park or check the river. Both have water out of their banks, which usually means I see good birds. Since it was 2 in the afternoon, I decided to go to the park, since it was closer. I am glad I did!

When I first got there, I seen a couple with their scopes on something, Snow Geese! I got my scope out and put it on the birds. The couple had left as soon as they seen me coming with my scope. I wished they would have stayed, as I am pretty sure that I could see at least one Ross's Goose with the Snow Geese in the middle of the lake. The heat distortion and north winds/waves made it hard to see (I have a somewhat flimsy tripod!). The glaring afternoon sun's reflection off the water didn't help with getting pics.

Looks like a Ross's with Snow Geese (far away)

As I was looking at the Snow Geese in the scope, a Red-necked Grebe popped up in the foreground - a life bird! The bird looked as if it was going to fall over on its bill, as it looked to be leaning forward. I got good looks at it, but it was hard to keep track of, so I was unable to obtain a picture.

A male Bufflehead also flew in and landed right in front of me on the lake - love them!

Male Bufflehead

No sooner had the Bufflehead touched down, I heard a loud ruckus from the 100's of RB Gulls. They all took to the air and so did the Snow Geese. It took me a while to find out the cause of all the commotion, ah ha - an immature Bald Eagle flying over the lake.

Immature Bald Eagle

I was able to get distant pics of the Snow Geese in flight with the possible Ross's mixed in. (They still were very far away!)

⇧I was thinking the 5th goose from the top right might be a Ross's. The bottom 4th goose from the right also looks different to me. (Click on the photo to go to Flickr for a larger image.)⇧

Here⇧ , from a different angle, the 7th bird from the right looks like a Ross's to me (RB Gulls are also in the pic).

The geese put down back on the lake, but farther away. I decided to leave the lake and take a hike in the woods looking for other signs of Spring. There wasn't much going on in the woods, so I decided to swing back by the lake. The Snow Geese were gone, but a skunk decided to start towards me from up on the hill, so I decided that it was time to leave!

Mr. Skunk!

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