Double Trouble SP 2/3--Northern Pintail, Lesser Scaup

Lesser Scaup

After yesterday's PWBC, a relatively short walk at Double Trouble SP seemed like the thing to do. I made my way up to the Mill Pond Reservoir in the hopes that the recent thaw would have worked on the ice, and I was happy to see immediately find ducks on the water. At first it looked like just two Hooded Mergansers, but scanning with my bins I could see lots of ducks along the western edge. The two big flocks appeared to be American Black Ducks and Ring-necked Ducks, but I within the flock of Ring-necks I saw white flanks on a couple of ducks. I walked across the dry spillway and along the trail to get  closer look. Those different ducks were Lesser Scaup. After all these years, I'm still not good with scaup but I know that Lesser prefer lakes and ponds (check) and that they're heads are peaked at the back. I took some photos and enlarged them on the view screen--check. That was a year bird I wasn't expecting. 

Northern Pintail

I continued along the path to get better looks and a decent count of the black ducks. There were a few Mallards mixed in with them, but I didn't "care" about them. What interested me were the dabbling ducks with their butts up in the air--they were lighter than the black ducks and the Mallards. Finally, one came up for air and I was pretty certain that it was Northern Pintail, not a duck you often find at Double Trouble, but open water is scarce around here. A long-range photo confirmed my i.d.  I should have been able to tell just by the pintails sticking up in the air, but they were too far away for that field mark to show up against background. There was a year-duck I certainly wasn't expecting to find today.

After 8 waterfowl on the reservoir, the rest of the walk was slow birding. My two highlights were on the back bogs where the Sweetwater Reservoir is located. There I found a Swamp Sparrow in the overgrown bog and a Northern Harrier making sweeps over the two abandoned bogs. 

In all, 17 species for my walk through another former cranberry bog. Two year birds made me incrementally happy.

Canada Goose  34
Mallard  8
American Black Duck  54
Northern Pintail  4
Ring-necked Duck  22
Lesser Scaup  2
Bufflehead  2
Hooded Merganser  2
Mourning Dove  2
Turkey Vulture  1
Northern Harrier  1     Back bogs
Blue Jay  3
Tufted Titmouse  2
American Goldfinch  8
Dark-eyed Junco  1
Song Sparrow  1
Swamp Sparrow  1     Back bogs