There are so many different kinds of winter birds at Herring Pond, you never know what you will see. (Click on blog link for other photo.)
“The Hooded Merganser is a small duck with a slender bill and a flamboyant oversized head. The hood can be raised or lowered, changing the shape of the head and the white patch.”
Have you ever seen a Hooded Merganser? Beautiful bird, don’t you think?
It’s so much fun to go birding here on Cape Cod in the winter. You never know what you will see or where you will see it. (Click on blog link for other photo.)
There were quite a few birds swimming around at Herring Pond the other day. I always love the Ring-necked Ducks. They look like they should be called “Ring-billed Ducks” instead as their ring is around their bill and not their neck.
The Ring-necked Ducks are not like dabbling ducks… they dive to eat submerged plants and aquatic invertebrates.
This beautiful Long-tailed Duck was swimming around off of MacMillan Pier the other day. He was gorgeous and he even posed for a few photos. (Click on blog link for other photos.)
“The stunning males have two mirror-image plumages: in summer mostly black with a white face patch; in winter mostly white with rich brown, black, and gray on the face. In all plumages they have extravagantly long, slender tail feathers. Females and immatures are smudgy brown and white, without the long tail. These prodigious divers can feed as deep as 200 feet, swimming with their wings, catching invertebrates and small fish.”
So many different sea birds in Provincetown Harbor this year. Wow! Isn’t he just beautiful?
I’ve seen some pretty spectacular birds off of MacMillan Pier lately. This female Harlequin duck really caught my eye. (Click on blog link for other photo.) Look at that cute face…
When doing some research, I learned that Harlequin ducks are an endangered species and fewer than 1,000 are found today in eastern North America. Wow! That was very cool!
