I made a post a couple of weeks ago about some of the more common ducks you might see around water. There are other birds that are often seen hanging out in marshes and ponds that are often heard before they are seen.
Who hasn’t heard the lonely call of a common loon late in the evening while near a lake or marsh? Or perhaps you’ve seen their shadowy silhouette gliding through sunset glazed water? We have four species of loon that breed here in the Northwest Territories; common loon, red-necked loon, Pacific loon and Yellow-billed loons. I have been fortunate to see all four of them but I have yet to capture my best images of each species – wildlife photographer goals!
Red-necked grebes are another waterfowl species that you’ve probably heard if you live anywhere near a marsh. Most often you will hear their call during mating season. Their call sounds a lot like a pubescent goose with a stutter. Horned grebes and eared grebes are nearly identical. Horned grebes are common around Yellowknife and both red-necked and horned grebe chicks have striped heads like tiny-beaked skunks. Like other grebes their young will ride around on their parents backs and may even go underwater with them during dives.
Mergansers are a bit more elusive than loons and grebes but can be found swimming about in marshes and on lakes. They are much quieter than their counterparts and tend to keep their distance from humans. We don’t see mergansers (or most birds for that matter) in their non-breeding feathers so attempting an ID outside of the NWT could prove difficult! Interestingly, red-breasted Mergansers don’t acquire breeding plumage until they are 2 years old.
So that is a little introduction to waterfowl. Thanks for stopping by today and I hope to see you again next Sunday. As always feel free to share.