New Year's Lake Check

We had to get ready for the Capital One Bowl later but I still had time to do a quick lake check. I was noticing more activity out on one of the retention ponds that had been very quite of late. I stopped on one side since I could see a bunch of duck-like birds huddling together on a slip of land.Turned out to be Blue-winged Teal. 48 of them just resting.

Noticing some other small lake birds on the other side of the pond, I quickly jumped back in the van and drove around the block to get a view from the South end. I was trying to get a better look at what I have seen a couple minutes ago but the first thing I noticed was a Wilson's Snipe just sitting in the mud.



The other birds I was after had now moved back toward where I was a few minutes ago. Dang. I could verify that they were Hooded Mergansers, just under 20, and they suddenly turned and head back towards me. They still never cam closer than halfway across the pond.



The Mergansers were moving quickly and appeared to be chasing the remaining small fish in the shallow waters. A few moments later, a Snowy Egret zipped over to take advantage of the fleeing fish.



A couple moments later a Tricolored Heron joined in.



Together, the whole feeding flock continued to forage as they made their way toward the shore and then back out again.



Nothing Earth shattering but a fun start to the New Year.