A Duck In Tuf(ted) Weather

 Saturday was quite gloomy, foggy and drizzly, typical of weekend weather.  I opted to head to Rondeau Park to see what was around despite that.

I walked Tulip Tree trail, then south point trail (west).  There was nothing special that came along.  More sparrows have come in as expected.  No warblers though!  I suppose things are a bit more normal this year compared to recent years with the cooler weather.

Several Blue-winged Teal were in the sloughs.

Along the trail, I always notice this oddly-formed tree.

Before leaving the park, I started walking the campground.  Soon after, I got word of a Tufted Duck at Erieau.  There was light rain anyway, so I did an about-face!

It was a must-see bird, as there has only been one other record in the area to my knowledge, and almost all of us have not recorded one in the Rondeau birding area.

Upon arrival at the entrance to the marina, and during heavy drizzle, the subject duck was easily seen!

It was a perfect male, obvious as to species.  It was in company with its distant cousins, Lesser Scaup.

Certainly a nice addition to our Rondeau area bird list!

On the way out, I stopped by a spot along Erieau Road where a male Yellow-headed Blackbird was being seen.  As soon as I got out of the car, I heard it sing a couple of times.  However, I could not get a visual!  I suspect it was tight in the phragmites.  A light rain was falling complicating matters, so I eventually left.

Today, we did not get any precipitation, but I went back to Rondeau Park.  It seemed even quieter than the previous day, and nothing notable was seen.

Eventually, I heard that the Tufted Duck was still being seen, along-side a Harlequin Duck.  Had to go to Erieau again!

Both ducks were almost side-by-side in scope views.  They were a bit distant, so I did not attempt any photos. Nice to see these two at once.

Back on Friday I stayed fairly close to home on a sunny day.  It got fairly warm in the afternoon, so I went up to Reid CA.

With the ridiculous amount of rain Wednesday night, rivers and streams were running very high, and fields flooded.  There was limited walking at Reid due the flooding river!

I could not go my usual route of course, and was not able to get past the low spot on the main trail.

Old River Channel

I was able to get over to the Lily Bush on high ground though.  It was quite nice there, out of the wind.  Most of the birds were there anyway, what few one gets at Reid.

My first migrant Yellow-rumped Warbler of the spring was among them, but it was too busy feeding to pose for a photo.

I just admired the scenery.

One of the large oaks

Spring has been off to a good start with some decent birds.  Hopefully the trend continues!