Today I returned to the congregation on the river and was surprised to find not only that the location and number of birds seemed to be the same, but also that all of the individuals I recognized from the day before were bobbing around in roughly the same places in the water. The splotchy hybrids were still keeping together on the far end of the group, and a recognizable coot with an injured wing was keeping close to the very same bit of shore as yesterday. The neat little group of tufted ducks must have been swimming all day to stay in the very same spot. So it appears that waterfowl are creatures of habit this time of year. I think that it is a lucky thing to find recognizable individuals among the masses, as it gives one a feeling of connection to an otherwise strange group of foreign creatures, all indistinguishable from one another. Continue reading →