Urban Northern Shoveler

The Ring-necked Ducks have been increasing in good sized flocks recently but they seem to be sticking mainly to Lake Cherokee instead of their usual hangout of Lake Davis. I suspect it is due to the low water levels Lake Davis has suffered all year long. Lake Cherokee stays more or less at a constant height and is full of fish and leg room.

Therefore, Lake Davis is fairly quiet right now. Only it's regular Mallards, other ducks and geese and Moorhens as there along with some just arriving American Coots. Don't even hear the Kingfisher this year.

Then I get an email from Ellen Rocco saying she has spotted a Northern Shoveler on the south shore of the lake. She had mentioned that she thought that it appeared to be a male in non-breeding plumage. It was nearly dark and I knew I wouldn't be there in time to check it out and mentioned that I hoped it would stick around until the morning.

I dropped the kids off at school the following morning and swung by the lake on the way home. Sure enough, in the same spot described the night before, was a Shoveler feeding with a few Mallards near the shore.



Just over a year ago I found a female Shoveler in a retention pond behind a warehouse but other than that Shovelers tend to stick to the coasts. This is definitely the first one I have seen at Lake Davis.

Wish we could get some other coastal goodies over here!