Redheads and Other Excitements

A pair of Redheads (Aythya americana) in Green-Wood. The male, in front, sports that beacon of a head. These two, along with two slightly smaller female Ring-necked Ducks (Aythya collaris), very craftily kept their distance from me as I circled the blob-shaped Valley Water twice, as I aimed for the best distance and light.Here’s the male again with one of the Ring-neckeds. Redheads are rare in our waters, and rarer still in our local freshwaters. Both they and the Ring-neckeds are divers, but they will rest in small ponds during migration. I was interested to discover that many female Redheads lay their eggs in the nests of other Redheads, ten other species of ducks, and even herons and Northern Harriers (!). Ring, Red, Red, Ring.

While observing these ducks, I happened to glance away, and then looked up as I heard a splash. Two American Black Ducks landed (watered?), one with a Red-tailed hawk hot on its tail. Not exactly a duck hawk, one of the old names for Peregrines, the Red-tail missed as the duck took shelter underwater.It came back up noisily.The hawk perched briefly nearby before flying off to try its luck elsewhere. As big as Mallards, our largest wild ducks, the Black Duck would have made a substantial kill for the raptor.