A stop along the lakeshore in Burlington produced some interesting duck sightings this afternoon. Not so much in species, but behaviour.
Clearly the birds are very hungry. The lake was extensively frozen over Monday and Tuesday of this week making foraging virtually impossible. Today (Thursday) the lake was rough, a steady driving easterly wind had built up quite a surf along the shoreline at this end of Lake Ontario. In the surf was where all the duck action was this afternoon, I assume the wave action was loosening up Zebra Mussels and other food, some of which had been locked in ice for too long. WHITE WINGED SCOTER, BUFFLEHEAD, LONG TAILED DUCKS, COMMON GOLDENEYE, GREATER SCAUP, REDHEADS, GADWALL and MALLARDS were all working the surf. Techniques differed. A group of about 10 MALLARDS was walking to and fro on the sand and foraging actively just where the waves were washing in, often fairly sizeable waves broke right over them sweeping them off their feet and totally immersing them. Other than their flat feet, the time of year, a biting wind, chunks of ice that made the surf behave like a landslide of coarse gravel, and overall appearance, this could have been a bunch of ten year olds playing in the surf on a July afternoon. But I don't think these guys were playing, they were hungry and desperate. The diving species were all riding the surf close to but not actually on, the shoreline. Those more than say twenty feet out, were loafing and diving from time to time. Those close-in behaved more like a group of Californian surfers, catching waves, diving through waves and sometimes totally immersed by breaking waves crests. I watched one Bufflehead that was almost flipped airborne by a particularly abrupt wave. It almost looked like fun, although the chunks of ice added an element of tension. Extreme ice-surfing, a new sport; anyone at all susceptible to seasickness would have turned green in sympathy. The last few weeks have produced some remarkable duck watching along the shoreline. Spencer Smith Park is a great place to get close up and personal. The cold has driven all species close to the shore, sometimes to the very edge of the water along the park walkway, such that you can look down on ducks flying under water. Until this year, the scoter species have always been well off shore (in my fair-weather experience). Today they were as close as Cardinals at a backyard feeder. Spencer Smith Park is at the south end of Brant St. in Burlington. Exit from QEW at Brant and go south to the end, alternatively it is close to The QEW at the Skyway bridge. Exit at North Shore Blvd. Hwy 2. Go east about one Km, and there it is, right beside the lake. There are varied shoreline conditions and almost anywhere produces good ducking. Plenty of CANADA GEESE, TRUMPETER SWANS and MUTE SWANS too. Peter Thoem Burlington 905 681 2738 "Peter and Ruth Thoem, Burlington. [EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
