Whitesbog 11/13--Canvasback (Patch Bird)

Canvasback, Union Pond

For the last week I have been, as my ex-Marine friend would say, "confined to quarters," attending to Shari after her knee replacement surgery. (A note of advice: Take care of your knees. The recovery from this surgery involves excruciating pain. "Some discomfort" my ass.) Aside from trips to CVS for her drugs and Wawa for ice, I haven't been able to leave the house, so my birding has been limited to our backyard, but today I was able to get out for a bit and go to Whitesbog. I wanted to see if the Tundra Swans had come back yet. The answer is a qualified "yes" as there was only one swan in the lower bog. As the sixth law of birding states: "You only need one," but that is a disappointing number for this time of year.

However, I did add a patch bird to my list. Since, aside from my backyard, I have more lists from Whitesbog (both sides, Burlington and Ocean Counties combined) than any other spot, this is not an insignificant event. It was also my 200th bird for the combined patch list. I intended to just walk around Union Pond given my limited time. I was on the dam between it and the Middle Bog when a guy (who had used "my" parking spot at the double-laned road) stopped and asked me why no birds were singing. I was explaining that most birds don't sing in November, when I saw that the white lump in the middle of the pond was not just a weird reflection, but the body of a Canvasback. I told him I couldn't talk to him anymore as there was a rare duck in the water and walked to the edge to get a better look. Canvasbacks aren't really rare in Burlington, but they are scarce at Whitesbog. I didn't know it at the time, but this one turned up yesterday. I haven't been keeping track of the birds around lately--why torture myself?--so this duck was a complete surprise to me. I was able to get a doc shot of the duck. I then walked around the pond to the other side, hoping for a better angle. I should have known better, since I was facing into the sun then, but, I did see a large flock of Ring-necked Ducks from that side, with the Canvasback, in the silly phrase often used on eBird, "loosely associating" with them. I guess that is supposed to indicate that the duck was more or less in the vicinity of the flock of its aythya cousins. At one point the whole flock got up and flew briefly, and the huge Canvasback, compared to the Ring-necks, was obvious. Also, "loosely associating" with a flock of American Goldfinches on the back side of the pond and in Ditch Meadow, were a few Pine Siskins, my first of the year in Burlco. So, in all, a productive 65 minutes before I had to leave to buy more ice at Wawa, even if my count was a mere 19 species.

Tundra Swan  1
Mallard  2
Canvasback  1    
Ring-necked Duck  35
Bufflehead  3
Ruddy Duck  8     Middle Bog
Pied-billed Grebe  1
Killdeer  1
Bald Eagle  2
Northern Flicker  1
American Crow  3
Carolina Chickadee  2
Tufted Titmouse  2
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
Hermit Thrush  2
Pine Siskin  3     
American Goldfinch  15
Dark-eyed Junco  1
Song Sparrow  2

Tundra Swan, Lower Bog