Dead Ducks

Last Friday evening I read about some dead Redheads being found on the St. Clair River in Michigan. I have not heard anything more about it.

However, after supper tonight I took a leisurely ride out to the big river and noticed a number of dead ducks among the chunks of ice. Four were on the Snye in within a short distance of each other. Out at Port Lambton I noticed two dead Redheads close together off the dock. Obviously there are more of these ducks around. In all my years I have not seen anything like this, so it would be interesting to know what is going on. It could be a number of things, but I will not speculate at this point. The photo above shows the two dead Redheads at Port Lambton. I could not get close, and the day was waning, so the photo is not too good.

Another odd thing recently is that Redheads have been showing up on lawns and on various rural properties. Today a female Redhead was on the snow outside the shop door just as I was leaving the place where I am working. Last week the owner talked about a number of ducks just waddling around on the property. This behaviour seemed strange to me.

With the milder weather today, more open water is showing. The photo below shows an open spot on Stewart Wetland. Mostly Redhead were hear with some Canvasback and two Gadwall.

In other notes, a number of Harriers have been around this week.