Autumn 2017
Salish Sea
It’s been gray and wet for the past week. On a sunny afternoon a couple of weeks ago I watched one Harlequin Duck hen hunting along the waterline, where small waves washed up onto a cobbly beach.
Harlequins are considered “sea ducks” since they typically dive beneath the water for prey and their winter habitat is in the ocean, away from shore. Sea ducks rarely walk up onto the beach. Harlequins are at home in the rough swirly fast-moving waters near rocky islands and reefs, and do come out to rest on rocks out there. The only time I see them by the beach in fairly quiet water like this is early in the season. Harlequin ducks migrate a short distance to the open coast for the winter, spending the summer on swift streams up in the mountains. A few non-breeding birds remain behind over the summer but most depart by April, to return at the end of summer. The books say the drakes form “clubs” and migrate out to the coast first. They are less visible to me than the hens, who often come near shore when they arrive.
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They shallow dive for small invertebrates like snails, crabs, barnacles, fish roe. I’m guessing she was snapping up amphipods, those extremely abundant shrimp-like critters that live at the margin of the tide on sandy/muddy/cobbly beaches.
The shallow water over rocks makes beautiful and dynamic patterns in the wave swash. I like looking at that too.
Hen Harlequin plumage is several shades of warm brown and grayish brown, which suits them for incubating their eggs. They nest on the ground or in the driftwood of gravel bars of streams, according to the books.
The name Harlequin Duck — and indeed their scientific name Histrionicus histrionicus — suggests a brilliant patterned plumage, not at all what Ms Harlequin wears. That’s because the name is describing the drakes, and it quite suits them.
The drake Harlequins are now more evident, and I’m not seeing many Harlequins inshore anymore. They’ve pretty much all moved out to the rocks and spread widely enough in mixed gender groups so I’m likely to see them somewhere along the way when we go out in the boat.
It’s November, and most of our winter ducks have arrived now. The waters of the Salish Sea have really livened up! Ducks make winter a season I look forward to.
What’s happening in your natural neighborhood. Any migrating birds arriving?
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