Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus)
Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis)
We decided to go to the canal today but on the way we were passing the national headquarters of the Izaak Walton League on Muddy Branch Road and decided to stop and walk around Lake Halcyon on that property. It’s a nice little pond with woods on three sides and it’s not uncommon to see ducks there. We were blessed with three duck species. First we saw a pair of hooded mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus), which are fish-eating ducks. They were out in the middle of the pond but with my long lens I was able to get a decent shot of them. Then we saw a pair of lesser scaup (Aythya affinis), a type of diving duck. We also saw two pairs of mallards (Anas platyrhynchos). There were eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis) in the trees around the pond, as well.
We see mergansers reasonably often but this is the first time I’ve seen scaup, so I considered that to be a real treat.