Finally, A Little Sunshine Shined On Me

We finally got a sunny day, and I sure wasn’t going to spend the day inside reading when I could spend the day birding locally, down at the beach and at Titlow. I didn’t see anything particularly unusual, but it’s been awhile since I’ve gotten a good picture of a Common Goldeneye:

male Common Goldeneye

I was a little surprised when I realized that it had a starfish in its beak, but when I looked closer at the beak, and consulted the internet, I realized that “on wintering grounds, mollusks, crustaceans, and fish are the main foods.”

Nearby I saw a female Red-Breasted Merganser:

female Red-Breasted Merganser

It’s thinner beak is more suited for it’s main diet, fish, though apparently it also feeds on crustaceans.

My favorite shot of the day, though, came it Titlow Beach where I spotted and waited for this male Red-Breasted Merganser to float by:

male Red-Breasted Merganser in breeding colors

It’s still hard for me to believe that the male looks like the female merganser until breeding season.

6 thoughts on “Finally, A Little Sunshine Shined On Me”

  1. The sunshine definitely helps to draw those out, kenju.

    Hopefully we’ll get some more sunshine the next few days and I can get out again.

  2. It is really amazing that birds change so drastically from season to season. And interesting how each species remains unique from even their closest cousins… Does no cross-breeding take place?

  3. Fantastic photos, Loren! The male with his punk hairdo and jazzy suit, the female with her hair scraped back and orange make-up -they could be on a fashionable catwalk – or rather, duck-walk. I’m so tempted to find closely matched human versions and send the pics to you..shall I do it?

  4. If you send them, I’ll post them, Natalie, unless they’re copyrighted, of course, than I’ll just enjoy them myself.

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