Maffitt Reservoir

It was unseasonably warm yesterday (plus the Great Backyard Bird Count is going on), so I had to get out and do some birding.  Sundays mean dinner with Mr. Pescador (my fiance)'s family, but I talked him into stopping at Maffit Reservoir for an hour or so first.  Not that it was a hard sell, whether he wants to admit it or not he's something of an amateur birder himself. :)

There were hundreds of waterfowl out on the water. (Click on the photo to see it larger.)

In the foreground we have mostly Canada and Cackling Geese, with a Trumpeter Swan on the right.  There were also some Greater White-fronted Geese (aka "specklebellies") but I didn't get them in this photo.  Swimming in the background we have drake and hen mallards.  And what's that flying in the left hand corner?  Why it's a male Common Goldeneye - note the white wing patches close to the body and the white belly (if this photo were zoomed in better you could also see the white cheek patch).

This was my first time at Maffit but I'll definitely be going back.  It has a little bit of everything - water, some marshy areas, some prairie, and wooded hills and valleys.  When I was being paid to do bird surveys most of my sites were woodland or forest, so it just doesn't feel like a successful bird trip to me if I don't get some of those species.  Finding them is like running into old friends.  There was a fair amount of foot traffic, including some people with dogs, and there were some fishermen out on the ice, so the non-waterfowl were staying pretty quiet.  I did find some American Tree Sparrows lurking in the bushes, so I got a better photo of one.

Sorry for repeating species, but I know these birds will be gone soon so I'm enjoying their presence while it lasts.  And the reservoir had one last surprise we were heading out...

An American Coot!  This is Mr. Pescador's favorite bird, he calls them "little black ducks" - mainly because he's teasing me, he knows they aren't ducks.