Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Jan 31, 2012: Goodbye to a warm January

     Geese take flight from south lake, 1/31/12 -- Kevin Kane

As we say goodbye to January, two waterfowl species were added today to this year's list: a drake Northern Pintail and 2 Ring-necked Ducks. The drake American Black Duck was observed almost everyday from the 11th, including today. However, the female American Wigeon presence was more sporadic. She was last seen on the 30th. The drake Ruddy Duck found on the 24th lay dead on the ice the following day. The initial 6 Trumpeter Swans on the 30th consisted of 2 adults and 4 immatures. I had 2 adult Cooper's Hawk visit my backyard on the 28th. One had been present for 30 minutes when the second landed on my deck railing. Then both flew off together. I wondered if they were the breeding pair from Brookside Park.

Who would have thought that I'd be riding around the lakes in shorts in January!
Wolf

Wolfgang Oesterreich
 Ames


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