A Day for Ducks

I’m not usually the biggest fan of birding on a Sunday morning but for this birding trip it was worth it. We didn’t see as many birds as I’ve seen on past trips but still I got to see lots of new ducks that I’d never seen before. Right off the bat we saw a mockingbird on our way to hook pond. There we saw a few mute swans, and one of the coolest ducks I’ve ever seen; the Hooded Merganser. The males have this gorgeous white triangular crest that they can put up or down and a white breast with two black bars on each side. Following the sighting of this amazing duck we saw the common Mallard Duck, the males sporting their meadow green head and the females a sort of blah but nice brown pattern as to help them blend. Right next to the mallards were some Mottled Ducks in which all the males and females have the coloring of a female Mallard. Through the scope we spotted a little Belted Kingfisher, who has now it seems become a common sight on our birding trips. After getting back in the birding mobile and heading over to Wainscott Beach and walking a quarter of a mile to Georgica Pond, we arrived at our new birding spot. About 150 feet away from us were a handful of Royal Terns. These terns are identifiable by their long orange beak and during this time of year the top of their heads has much white but towards the back of their head there is almost entirely black, and they also have a forked tail. Now came the part of the birding trip where we put our gull identification skills to the test. From the left side swooping down came a Laughing Gull with it’s grey and black-tipped back, and followed by that was a Herring Gull. After this we drove over to a pond near Cook’s Lane in Bridgehampton. In between Georgica pond and this little pond we spotted a Red-Tailed Hawk! Setting up the scope was somewhat of a hassle on a little strip of lawn opposite the pond but what we spotted was really exciting. Hanging out on the other side of this little pond were about four Wilson’s Snipes. They’re fairly common but I’d never seen one so that was just one more bird to add to my life list. This adorable little snipe with it’s bigger than life eyes and extremely long bill were just lounging and eating in the shade of a tree. Our last stop by the golf course really made it official that today was the day for ducks. Here we spotted a Bufflehead, a common bird, in which their puffy head that has a sort of bonnet splotch of white identifies the males and the front of the head is green. Next on the duck sighting list came a little creature that when breeding has a bright blue bill but during this time of year it’s a speckled brown color and the females have a brown slice across their cheek. After the Ruddy Duck we saw a small group of Northern Shovelers. These birds look like real life Daffy Ducks with their huge bills. The last duck of the day was the Green-Winged Teal. The males of this species have a gray body with a muddy brown color and a green patch around the eye. The female Green-Winged Teals are like most female birds, overall they have a speckled brown color and aren’t as beautiful as the males, which is sad but that way for survival reasons. Overall, I would say that this was definitely a duck day and almost all of the ducks we saw I had never encountered before so that made me happy.