Welcome! This week I wanted to introduce you to a pretty rare visitor around Yellowknife, the Ruddy duck. This species is one of the smaller uduck species, being a little larger than Buffleheads but smaller than Common Goldeneye. This probably doesn’t help if you don’t have a good understanding od the different sizes of ducks. Buffleheads and Green-Winged Teals are examples of small ducks while large duck species include Canvasbacks and Mallards.
My first encounter with a Ruddy duck was actually in Alberta. I didn’t anticipate seeing one in Yellowknife yet a few years a go a male wound up hanging out in a downtown pond for a couple of weeks. His presence made quite the impression on the birding community.
In June I went to Ft. Providence for a birding and fishing trip with my son. We stopped at Caen Lake on the way down early in the morning and recorded over 40 species of birds one of which was the Ruddy duck. I was surprised to find at least 3 pairs of birds in a narrow area quite close to shore. I expect there may have been other pairs around the lake as well.
Ruddy Ducks lay the largest eggs of all the ducks relative to body size and hatch into well-developed ducklings that require care for a short period of time.
I’m planning another trip past Caen Lake in late August and will stop there again to see if there are any Ruddy ducks still in the area. I expect the marsh to have grown quite tall so I may or may not have any luck!
*And finally, a fun fact: The oldest Ruddy Duck on record was a male and at least 13 years, 7 months old. He was banded in British Columbia and 1951 and found in Oregon in 1964.