Winter birding in The Land of Pleasant Living

It was a bright and unseasonably warm winter’s day of birding on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The blinding sunshine gave way to a gorgeous sunset, so I’ll start where we ended the day.

Great Blue Heron, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

Same Great Blue Heron moments later, about to strike

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge’s 32,000 acres of marsh and woodland provide an important sanctuary for waterfowl migrating along the Atlantic Flyway as well as for raptors and wading birds that can be found year-round or summers in the park. We saw acres of Canada geese, Snow geese, Tundra swan and other waterfowl including Northern Shovelers, Mallards and American Coots — most too far away for me to photograph. If you ever have the opportunity, Blackwater is well worth a visit. Or check out the Friends group’s eagle and osprey cams.

More scenes from Blackwater.

Bald Eagle, one of a pair that exchanged places perching on a low tree in the marsh

Tundra swan arriving in the marsh. (I can’t ID the duck at the upper left. It stayed with the group while they fed in the marsh.)

Tundra Swan

Northern Shovelers use their wide bills to forage and filter food. Pairs form in winter and remain together through the breeding season.

Canada geese, a few dozen among thousands

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Earlier we visited an in-town location on a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay that offers famously easy winter waterfowl watching. Canvasback and Lesser Scaup predominated with Mallards and a few American Wigeons as well. Canvasbacks and Scaups are diving ducks. Mallards and Wigeons are dabblers.

Canvasback male. The reflection is reminiscent of traditional Pacific Northwest animal art. During winter, Canvasbacks primarily eat aquatic plants.

Canvasback takes a stand, while a Lesser Scaup female appears unimpressed.

I watched this Canvasback female bathe and preen for several minutes.

Lesser Scaup female (left) and male (right). These diving ducks eat primarily mollusks and other invertebrates.

American Wigeon male – such pretty birds

American Wigeon pair. When they aren’t snoozing, they eat primarily aquatic and terrestrial vegetation.

A very good day of birding.

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