Tag Archives: Ducks

Riverwalk #Birding this week – Gadwall, Hooded Merganser, and More…

From time to time my wife claims that I can be obsessive, but I don’t know what she’s talking about.  On a completely unrelated subject, I’ve been to the Chattanooga Riverwalk at least 5 times in the past couple of weeks.  On Mondays I have the privilege of spending the afternoon with two of my home-school grandsons, Chase and Jeff, so this week we walked a couple of miles of the Chattanooga Riverwalk, and then on Tuesday Cindy and I visited the pond next to the Curtain Pole Road parking area of the Riverwalk.  They were a good two days for our birding – we were able to photograph three lifers we’ve seen during these couple of weeks of walking the Riverwalk.  Here are some photos; the Gadwalls and Mergansers are from the pond next to Curtain Pole Road, and the Green-winged Teal was on the pond at Amnicola Marsh.

Hooded Merganser - Lophodytes cucullatus by USWildflowers, on Flickr

The Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus) is pretty shy. This is typical of how it positioned itself.

Continue reading

Another Visit to Amnicola Marsh #Birding #Wetlands

A doctor’s appointment took me out to the foot of Missionary Ridge on Thursday morning, and since I was out in the vicinity I decided to make another visit to the Amnicola Marsh along the Chattanooga Riverwalk.  I was hoping to get a closer look at the Hooded Mergansers we’d spotted a week earlier.  And while those ducks were there, I once again proved that not only am I a rookie as a birder, I’m still a rookie as a bird photographer.  I can get frame-filling photos of birds that act like wildflowers – allowing me to approach closely and spend some time taking several photos, as did the Canada Goose and the Mockingbird shown below.

 

Canada Goose - Branta canadensis by USWildflowers, on Flickr

Canada Goose – Branta canadensis

Continue reading

#Birding Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge and Harrison Bay State Park

Cindy and I decided to take advantage of the first sunshine in 9 days by driving up to the Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge in Meigs County, TN on Friday (Jan 18.)  Over the past decade this area has become a main overwintering stop for Sandhill Crane.  We had gone up there in mid-November to check them out (and the excellent nearby Cherokee Removal Memorial Park,) and we did get to see a number of the cranes, but none closer than probably 1/4 mile.  We were really hoping to get a closer look, and we did, but not quite what we wanted.  We saw a couple dozen of these large birds, but none closer that probably 150 yards.  After we watched these birds for a while with the couple of dozen other birders there, we went down to Harrison Bay State Park, and photographed some ducks and coots.  Here are some photos.

Sandhill Crane at Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge by USWildflowers, on Flickr

Sandhill Crane at Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge – slight crop & straighten; watercolor filter applied

Continue reading