Wintering Ducks

I am so used to seeing a bunch of ducks and most of them are Mallards but that is definitely not the case this time of year. Yes, there are still Mallards around but now when looking in a harbour or out in the lake we get to see some new and interesting types of ducks as well. Like the long-tailed duck, these guys breed up in the artic during the summer months but in the winter they come down here to the edges of our lakes. The males and females both look so cute because they have such a soft colouring to them. They say that these guys are the deepest diving ducks as they can dive as deep as 200 feet to forage along the bottom. They used to be called Oldsquaw but as the word squaw, which means woman grew some negative connotations they thought they would change its name so that it didn't hinder any conservation efforts with this species.

Another interesting duck is called a White-winged Scoter. It is a sea duck and one of the largest/heaviest ducks. They never used to be here in large numbers but ever since the invasion of zebra mussels into the great lakes they are becoming more common. I love that nature has a way of balancing out stuff like that but I often wonder what will control the human population as we seem to be invading more and more of the earth's surface.