Hey tweets, Foster Island was duck heaven today in the rain. I'm afraid that
my floppy blue hat became much, much floppier as it feebly tried to ward off
the wet. By the end of our walk, my hat had lost any resemblance to Indiana
Jones's dashing haberdashery and looked more like Krusty the Klown playing a
tough crowd, but the loss of my hat was worth it. We saw 15 species of
ducks. Among the usual suspects were:

11 Northern Pintails flying in formation overhead; both Hooded and Common
Mergansers fishing in the lake; a pair of Common Goldeneyes; and one
Canvasback. The Wood Ducks are in breeding plumage and gleamed brightly in
the silvery mist. That was before the heavy rain began. After that, it was
all a matter of peering blearily through fogged up glasses. A couple of
obliging yachts of ginormity drove the flocks close to shore, so we got
great looks at the goldeneyes and mergansers.

It was fun to see the way the Common Mergansers would paddle ahead for a few
feet, then while still in motion, stick their heads into the water until
just their eyes were submerged. They would keep paddling forward and then
look up quickly to see where they were going. It reminded me of a person
picking his way along an unfamiliar trail. He wants to look ahead to see
what's really important - the path ahead - but he has to keep looking down
at his feet to make sure he doesn't trip. The mergansers reversed the looks:
down for the all-important fish prospects, up so as not to trip.

I'm becoming a great fan of birding when all the signs tell you to stay home
instead. - Connie, Seattle

constancesidles at gmail.com