Rednecks and Ducks

This Red-necked Grebe has staked out a territory in front, of my usual viewing area at the Lagoon. However, it took five days of trying before I was able to get good pictures of it.

The Grebe must be resting up from the migration flight, because it spends most of the time in this position. The bill is tucked into the breast feathers and the neck is curled into the back. Look closely, the eye is open and he watches everything. At time it was as if he was playing games teasing me. It would swim up close to me, and just watch me.

Great photos and cute story! I've never been able to get a good pic of a Grebe.

The tufts of feather at the back of the head, have the look of a cheep toupee. (Donald Trump's hair dresser must have used the Red-necked Grebe as a model. LOL. ) Notice the red does not go all the way around the neck. The long yellowish bill distinguishes the Red-neck Grebe from other Grebes.

LOL!!!

Really a beautiful bird.

A pair of Barrow's Goldeneye, photographed this afternoon at the pond in Northwood Park, Anchorage, AK. Notice there are a few blades of green in the grass -- NOW check out the ice in the next picture. It was taken less than an hour earlier, only two miles away.

Thanks Murmur, I made at least eight trips to the Lagoon before getting less than two minutes of perfect conditions. He was so beautiful, I snapped a couple dozen pictures. All in less than two minutes and he went back to napping.

I took this picture about 45 minutes before the one above, this afternoon. This was taken at West Chester Lagoon, Anchorage, AK. This larger body of water still has a lot of ice cubes floating around. Until about noon today there was a thin crust of ice here. A Barrow's Goldeneye. He is back lighted and lacks detail of the above picture.

Is the black on the male Barrow's Goldeneye almost blue? Gorgeous!

The last picture may lack the detail in the duck himself, but the overall photo is glorious - ice, very blue water, ripples, duck, reflection . . . goodness, what more could we ask?

This pair of Common Merganser were also at Northwood Park this afternoon, but not as cooperative as the Goldeneyes. I was never able to get the correct light to show the eye, on the male. The eye just disappears into the iridescent green.

Murmur, I had never notice the iridescence on a Goldeneye, before today. The light was nearly perfect at the time. I believe nearly all black feathers can exhibit some degree of iridescence if the light is from the correct angle.

In this shot of a Greater Scaup from this morning there is a greenish gloss on the head. Quoting Stokes Field Guide: "In excellent light, note greenish gloss on the head." (p. 67 Western Guide.)
I had never though of Scaup as iridescent, before today. Guess, I had never taken the time to look closely before.

This is a pair of Common Goldeneye at West Chester Lagoon yesterday. At 10 AM today there was a thin layer of ice here, that formed during the night. The male is just starting to get his adult plumage. The female Common Goldeneye has a dark colored bill, this distinguishes her from the female Barrow's Goldeneye which has an orange colored bill.

Very nice pics Gras!!

Love the duck pictures. Very nice. I am never able to get that close to them. There are some here I have never seen in fly through our area.
Love the Trump hair....lol, I always thought of Don King when I see the female merganser.
Great pictures, enjoyed them very much.

I truly enjoy your photography, Gras - keep 'em coming!

Been hearing a wierd sound, like a barking dog, but not. Never heard this one before. Then this morning a small duck-like bird flys in and I look with the scope and it is a pied-billed grebe. I look it up and they are common in this area, even though I do not rememeber ever seeing one. I read that it has a voice of cow..cow...cow...but sounds like a dog. That is what I have been hearing. Always something new out there...you just have to look. No red-necks in the water though, but we sure have the human kind around here.

This message was edited Apr 24, 2007 4:58 PM

LOL!!!

Grasmussen
fantastic pictures of the Red-necked Grebe. This is a bird I have loved for a long time, but only ever saw it twice. The first time was in autumn in England, and the bird was between its summer and winter plumage. This picture was taken at Benacre Ness in Suffolk, England, way back on 13th September 1967. I was thrilled at the time to even see the bird, let alone manage a photograph.

The second time I saw the Red-necked Grebe was 30 years later during a year I spent in British Columbia, Canada. This time I found a breeding adult with a youngster. My pictures are not a patch on yours, bu this one does at least show the adult and young grebe together. Photographed at Oyama in British Columbia on 9th August 1997

and here the adult (on the left) has just passed a small fish to its offspring:

That must have been a thrill!

You have also brought back a lot of distant memories by your beautiful duck photos.
I was lucky enough to once see a Barrow's Golden Eye on a brief visit to Reykjavik in Iceland on 13th April 1971 and got one rather distant photo:

The Common Merganser also brings back memories. I never got a picture of a male, but although taken against the light, this picture of a female taken at Oulton Broad in Suffolk, England (where the bird is known as the Goosander) on 22nd November 1970 is quite a pleasing photo:

I also got to see the Common merganser on my visit to Canada, so here is another female taken on 31st August 1997

I never saw a Greater Scaup, but just once on a visit to Vancouver on 30th December 1997, I saw several Lesser Scaup. Here are several male Lesser Scaup with one female:

and here is a single female Lesser Scaup:

The Common Goldeneye, I occasionally saw when I lived in England, but never got the chance to photograph one. On the same visit to Vancouver in 1997, I photographed this little flock of male Common Goldeneye (along with one Mallard, one female and one male Lesser Scaup and one American Coot):

Ken, the Red-necked Grebe are fairly common here. There are about a dozen on the local lagoon at this time, but they are spread over several hundred acres, mostly as pairs.

This pair of Common Merganser spent over half an hour this morning, putting on quite a show, while preening.

In this picture they are actually preening.

A few Bonaparte's Gulls are starting to show up, swimming amongst the melting ice on West Chester Lagoon.

I'm enjoying all these duck pictures from both of you!

Gras, what a perfect photo that is - the duck is wonderful, of course, but the reflection in the water, with the ice all around, is just gorgeous.

Seeing your Bonaparte's Gull told me what it was I saw yesterday at the local beach (small park where I spend a lot of time taking pictures). I'd not seen one before that I am aware of. In reading about them, it sounds like they aren't here much - only during Spring and Fall migration.

A few Buffleheads have arrived. Unfortunately, they prefer the middle of the Lagoon. This male is near a small island.

Even with distance, that's a nice photo of the Bufflehead - they make me crazy, they are so shy and can get away so darn fast!

An odd duck!
This duck has makings similar to a Mallard, however, the tail is similar to a Northern Pintail, and the bill is blue. Mallards have an orange bill. I am assuming it is a hybrid.

Mallard on the left. Odd Duck on the right. It is also slightly larger than the Mallards.

There is also a significant difference in the breast color, as well as the size of the reddish area.

Yep, Mallard x Pintail . . . I've seen a few of these too.

Resin

Grasmussen, nice waterfowl photos. Many of the species depart my area before they are in their full breeding plumage.