A few new ticks

The area got pounded by a sleat/hail/wind/thunder storm last night. This morning I saw a string of what I assume were Tundra Swans flying over, and saw this pair of Northern Cardinals near my feeders.

Male Northern Cardinal

Female Northern Cardinal

So after class  I went birding, hoping that the weather pushed some birds down on the surounding water. I figured I would run to Sabula, Lake Bimini, and the DuBois Reservoir, and maybe Kyle Lake if there was time. I wanted to go to Bimini to check for the Tundra swans, but after spending a little more time than I thought I would watching ten swans at Sabula along with some Lesser Scaup I didn't think that there would be enough time.

Tundra Swans at Sabula Lake

Hooded mergansers and lesser scaup, the hoodie in the bottom of the photo has a fish!

When I arrived at the reservoir the first thing I saw was a raft of ducks right next to the causeway, a mixed group of lesser scaup and redheads!

Ring-necked Ducks at the DuBois Resrvoir

Lesser Scaup Female, Redhead male at the DuBois Reservoir

Lesser Scaup with Redheads at the DuBois Resrvoir

Redheads at the DuBois Reservoir

Redheads at the DuBois Reservoir

Lesser Scaup with Redheads at the DuBois Resrvoir

Redheads at the DuBois Reservoir

Redheads at the DuBois Reservoir

Redheads at the DuBois Reservoir

Redheads at the DuBois Reservoir

Redheads at the DuBois Reservoir

Redheads at the DuBois Reservoir

As you can see, I took alot of photos today. Although the lighting was horrible, I had alot of fun photographing these ducks. Bay ducks are really fun to watch. It can be hard to count these guys because bay ducks feed from the bottom. While dabblers such as mallards and pintails "tip" to feed from the bottom in shallow water, bay ducks like ring-necked ducks, redheads, and scaup dive under water and pick things up off of the bottom such as shellfish and molusks. This is where a bird's gizzard comes in handy. Birds collect and swallow fine gravel and grit which meets food in the gizzard, a very strong muscular organ that crushes and grinds the food of choice to aid in digestion. Though the weather was rough, the birding was smooth! I guess I'll have to go to Lake Bimini and Kyle Lake another day.