Common Mergansers - An Unmatched Pair

Grabbed a few shots of waterfowl on the river Saturday.  Came up with this lovely, unmatched pair of common mergansers.

The male and female look nothing alike, as far as coloring goes.  However, they do have the same basic body shape and bill shape.

The male is white, with a greenish-black head, black back feathers, and a red bill.

The female is more of an overall silver-grey with a white chin patch, rusty brown head (with crest) and a red bill.

Common mergansers are sometimes called sawbills because of their serrated beaks - the only ducks to have such a feature. Another interesting fact about them is that the females are crested, but the males are not.

They may not look like a matched set, but these two were very happy to be sailing along together, and in a relatively short time they will be building a nest and sitting on some eggs!

I've written about mergansers before, here:
 http://foundonthetrail.blogspot.com/2013/02/another-merganser.html

Goldeneye

The duck on the left - with the white patch on its cheek?

That, my friends, is a Common Goldeneye - my first!  And it is a male.

The females are brown-headed, have darker bodies, and don't have the white patch on their face.  In fact, I am pretty sure that is a female on the right, in the foreground.

As for the fellow in the back, I can't make a positive ID on him.  He has a different color scheme (note the black chest that runs down to the water line with no white on his neck) and is bigger than the other two.  I'm guessing he is a canvas back.

Requirements for a Wetland

According to the EPA, "...wetlands are lands where saturation with water is the dominating factor determining the nature of soil development and the types of plant and animal communities living in the soil and on its surface".*

According to the Army Corps of Engineers, a wetland has to have three things:  hydrophytic vegetation, hydric soils, and a wetland hydrology.**

According to Hyperion, there is one other crucial element:

Yep.

Yep.

Yep.

Must be a wetland.



* http://water.epa.gov/lawsregs/guidance/wetlands/definitions.cfm

** http://www.wetlands.com/regs/tlpge03d.htm

Canvasbacks

There were hundreds of canvasbacks on the river near LeClaire, Iowa last weekend.  I stopped to get a few pictures, and was excited to see them in such numbers.

They are so distinctive, with their whitish backs and bodies, and red heads.

Here's a picture of one with a Canada goose, for size comparison.

Hike at Maquoketa

Hiked at Maquoketa Caves last week with a couple of friends.  We had a grand adventure!  The day started off with snowflakes, white nose syndrome in bats, and a five-lined skink.  After leaving the ranger's office, we hiked through Dance Hall Cave and immersed ourselves in a wonderland of golden leaves.  Here are some photographic highlights:

Natural Arch

Looking out from Middle Dance Hall

Raccoon Creek running through Dance Hall

Gold spilling into the stream