November 16, 2023
Salish Sea, Pacific Northwest
With November we start getting a series of storms rolling into the Pacific Northwest, and up in this part of the Salish Sea that means wind. On a day we were returning from a trip to the mainland the wind was kicking up some good size swells and chop, but the ducks didn’t seem to mind at all. While waiting for the ferry I watched both diving ducks and dabblers bounce around on the water, at two different sites.
At a boat-launch park west of the ferry dock it’s exposed and gets deep fairly quickly. The birds there were all divers. Besides cormorants and grebes, there were Harlequin ducks and Surf Scoters diving and feeding. While both those kinds of ducks feed primarily on invertebrates, their different prey accounts for why their bills are not at all the same. It also means they aren’t competing directly for food as they hunt in the same spot.
Harlequins in winter feed mainly on crabs, snails, amphipods, small fish and small clams. Surf scoter winter diet is mostly bivalves (like mussels) and big clams.
Seeing a family group of Harlequins is a sign they only recently arrived from their inland breeding grounds on mountain streams. Families travel together, and “these units break up within days to weeks… Examples of families remaining in contact for as long as five months have been reported.” (Birds of the World, Cornell Ornithology)
Thirty second video shows the ducks and water in action:
.
In contrast, the little bay on the eastern side of the ferry dock is shallower, and usually much more protected, hence a favorite spot for wigeons, a dabbling duck. The sea lettuce and eelgrass that washes up in winter storms is just their cup of tea. Wigeons LOVE sea lettuce especially. They don’t often even have to tip to reach it, just snag it from the surface, or from the big drifts that accumulate on the beach.
People waiting for the ferry frequently come down to this bay to walk and enjoy nature (seasonally, in winter, more ducks and eagles; in summer, purple martins and osprey). The wigeons are used to a steady stream of people and dogs walking along the beach, matter-of-factly heading out onto the water and then returning once they’ve passed. I’ve never seen them looked stressed, even when a dog is off leash. Thankfully most of the time people do have their dogs on leashes.
A one minute twelve second video of clips, including the woman walking by with dog. The wind was blowing in from the north, right into the bay, not a typical direction for winter.
.
Eagles become more abundant in winter in these parts. They are known to prey on ducks but that’s uncommon. I suppose an eagle fly-by might have put the wigeons on alert.
Sun was setting by the time we got on the ferry. An eagle flew by, with Kulshan in the background in alpenglow.
🌊
THE DAILY BUCKET IS A NATURE REFUGE. WE AMICABLY DISCUSS ANIMALS, WEATHER, CLIMATE, SOIL, PLANTS, WATERS AND NOTE LIFE’S PATTERNS.
WE INVITE YOU TO NOTE WHAT YOU ARE SEEING AROUND YOU IN YOUR OWN PART OF THE WORLD, AND TO SHARE YOUR OBSERVATIONS IN THE COMMENTS BELOW.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PURPOSE AND HISTORY OF THE DAILY BUCKET FEATURE, CHECK OUT THIS DIARY: DAILY BUCKET PHENOLOGY: 11 YEARS OF RECORDING EARTH'S VITAL SIGNS IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS
|
Overcast, sprinkling rain, and chilly in the Pacific Northwest islands today. Days are VERY short just now.
WHAT’S UP IN NATURE IN YOUR AREA TODAY?