Ring-necked Duck

I mentioned in a prior post that I had not done much winter birding in many years.  I made up for it this year with several visits to Belle Isle - even though I saw essentially the same species each time.  This year's cold weather made for lots of ice on our waterways and we had large congregations of waterfowl on the river.   Some species, like Ring-necked Duck (Althya collaris), I had not seen in several years - as in, when you don't go birding, you don't see birds. 

At first there were five, three males and two females.  I approached carefully and not too closely, but one of the males became jittery and flew off.  This left me with two pairs who were wary but still stuck around.

The long neck and head of the male Ring-neck Duck reveal a bouffant appearance when viewed from behind.  The bird on the left displays this amusingly.  This is suggested in the lateral view with the arrow pointing to that slight head feather indentation of the bird on the right. I imagine that this serves a similar function as the male Hooded Merganser's display when around female birds.   

A very handsome duck if ever there was one.

Waterfowl surprise me with their unwillingness to allow a slow approach.  All January and February, no matter how carefully I approached the river and even while still some distance away, the flotillas would turn their backs and begin their swim away from shore.  I like the photo above because even at rest this female is keeping a watchful eye.

Female and male.

Is anyone else confused as to why this duck is named ring-necked?  I went on a search and found a possible answer in photos of birds in flight.  In flight the male's bright white lateral crescent thins out and is visible as a partial white ring just above the bird's open, in-flight wing.  This is best viewed with a good lateral image of a bird in flight.  It's the best answer I can find for the moment.  I don't have my own Ring-necked Duck flight photo and I couldn't find one on-line that I could legally download to show this, but will keep looking.  

 

January and February at Belle Isle in review

The only place I went birding during the past two months was Belle Isle.  Belle Isle is close to home and I can easily go for just a couple of hours.  I knew there would be waterfowl there and I have not paid attention to waterfowl in a long time.  I was past due.  I also happened to be extremely cold these past two months and very gray.  I tried to get out on the few sunny days we had.  I was successful only a couple of times.    

Common Goldeneye floating with Hooded Mergansers.

Female Hooded Merganser

Common Merganser

Cackling Goose

Rusty Blackbird

Redhead

Hooded Merganser

American Wigeon seen at Ford Field Park

First cycle Ring-billed Gull

I saw American Kestrel - there were two - during each of my visits.

The improbably named (to me) Ring-necked Duck - the first I have seen in many years.

The arrows point the a cluster of Ring-necked Ducks in the Blue Heron Lagoon.  I find it interesting that they hang out together.  True also for Canvasbacks, whose massive flotillas also had fewer Redheads and scaup species intermingled.  Canvasbacks are the undisputed kings and queens of abundance in the Detroit River around Belle Isle.  They deserve their own photo spot, but the relatively small flotilla below is more representative. 

First spring male Northern Cardinals looking grumpy, but then cardinals usually look grumpy.

Song Sparrow

Tundra Swans

Another Redhead

Female Scaup, probably Lesser

Wood Duck

Female Common Merganser

I did find one seasonally uncommon bird for Belle Isle on January 27th - a flyover Turkey Vulture.  This was a surprise.  Even more of a surprise was that I got identifiable photos.  

It's two days before the end of February and I am not going to have the chance to get to Belle Isle again, so this is my two month winter review. It's been a tough winter (at least for me), but perfect for re-acquainting myself with our local waterfowl and a few other birds. I can't say that waterfowl is my favorite group of birds, but I certainly have a lot of respect for them.

We can never look at White-throated Sparrows in the same way again

A single author article just published in the February 18, 2025 Scientific American is a game changer when we are out in the field.  I might be the only birder who finds this new information startling. Well, as with many things I have encountered in my life, I always seem to be the last to know.  

Just kidding and more accurately, I think many birders will be amazed with this information.  It's an extensive piece, so set aside the time to read and absorb.  I will never be able to see White-throated Sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis) in the same way again.

Male or female?  Hmmm.

This Backyard Bird Has a Lot to Teach Us about Sex Variability, by Donna L. Maney, a neuroscientist at Emory University. Her current research focuses on how sex and gender are treated as variables in biomedical research.

This article was originally published with the title “The Bird That Broke the Binary” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 332 No. 3 (March 2025), p. 48.

Hmmm?

Flashback to January 12, 2006 ...

... Wheatley Harbor, Ontario, Canada.  Yes, the same general location where I viewed the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024.  For those unacquainted with this part of Ontario, Wheatley Harbour is a major freshwater commercial fishing port on Lake Erie.  I was with friends Steve Sanford and Gail Franz who drove together from Baltimore, Maryland for this event.  Steve and Gail stayed the night with me and then very early on January 12th we drove to Ontario to see, for all of us, our life Ivory Gull (Pagophila eburnea).  We stopped for breakfast at the McDonald's in Windsor just across the Ambassador Bridge.

We spent a significant part of our search at Hillman Marsh Conservation Area, where the bird had been most recently reported, sifting through thousands of gulls.  I thought, oh no, Steve and Gail drove all this way and we are going dip on this bird.  Then a stroke of luck.  We ran into another birder who, at the time, I knew well and still would know well, just haven't seen him in ten years - Andy Dettling. Hmmm.  Andy is here.  We might have a chance to see this bird.  

In those days there was no such thing as a smart phone with apps that reported minute-by-minute sightings.  I had a little flip phone but it's unlikely that I had coverage in Canada.  So, how we were alerted to the change of venue I can't remember.  But I do remember that it was Andy who found us, or we found him, and he told us or we told him, that the Ivory Gull was being seen at Wheatley Harbor.  Now I could have this slightly wrong, because I also have a vague memory of looking for and finding Andy asleep in his car.  That part of this story will remain a mystery.  

I had done quite a lot of birding in this part of Ontario and, as it happened, I had recently visited Wheatley Harbor.  We loaded up in my little 1999 Toyota RAV-4, I got my bearings (no Google maps in those days either) and we flew low, fortunately, down a well-graded dirt road and wove our way to Wheatley Harbor.  We easily found the breakwater; the telltale sign being birders lined up with their spotting scopes.  We walked along the breakwater (I think it had a narrow paved top that made walking possible) and there was the bird.  I don't recall if Andy was already there or if he arrived shortly afterwards.     

Above and below are photos that I took with a tiny, beginner's Nikon digital camera purchased second hand from birding neighbors for $50. Cheap digital cameras were then in their most rudimentary form.

I probably shouldn't reveal this but, in the photo above, that's Andy crawling on his belly (he had a nice, big lens Canon) and the white speck just in front of the rocks, that's the Ivory Gull. 

Above and below, digiscoping in its infancy.  I'm quite sure that these three photos are my very first attempts.  I never did improve much beyond this.

  

I no longer do this kind of chasing.  Well, for a reasonably nearby Ross's Gull I might.  I'll always remember this as such a great day.  A completely different era of birding for me.

Has this been the longest winter?

Today is February 10, 2025.  The current temperature is 15 degrees F. Remarkably it is sunny!  I am so ready for some warmer weather.  I know I'm not the only one.  The mornings are brighter earlier and the evenings are lighter longer.  The multi-day temperature forecast is still pretty grim with at least one day predicted to fall into negative territory.  There is more snow forecasted.  Sunshine will be fleeting at best.  Nevertheless, we can keep our spirits up knowing that soon Cardinals will begin to sing.  This is always my signal that winter is losing its grip.     

Northern Cardinal.  Photo taken January 31, 2025 at Belle Isle Nature Center.

Addendum on 02/17/2025

4:10 pm: just returned from taking my neighbor's German Short-haired Pointer for a walk.  Temperature 15° F, feels like -2°  F .  I was stunned to hear, for the first time this year, Red-winged Blackbirds calling from a stand of tall trees on a golf course where they are heard throughout the summer.  I felt bad for them.  They returned too early.  What are they eating?  Tomorrow the high for the day is predicted to be 15° F with a full day of sun, the one bright sign predicted in the weather this week.  Meanwhile, I still have not heard a cardinal sing. 

Addendum on 02/23/2025  

On an afternoon walk, cold as anything, but brightly sunny, on February 21st, I heard two Northern cardinals singing.  This morning early ~ 7:00 am or so, also clear skies, I heard a Cardinal singing.  It is predicted to be 37° F today.  If this occurs, it will be our first temp break in many days.