It was slightly cooler out this morning -probably more normal for this time of year compared to warm days we've been having lately. I parked on the south side today and headed round the park on the paved path instead of the wood chip trail. The woods is just thin enough yet to see through to the "duck pond" on the southwest corner. From here I could see there was something different in the water -something with bright white coloring.
I tried quietly to sneak through the woods but by the time I made it up to the water's edge I'd scared off 2 of the ducks which I then recognized as Northern Shovelers. I've been itching to see these again this year so I parked myself on a log and waited for a while. Eventually a third one that was further out to my left came swimming into view. The first time I saw a Shoveler, it's head looked blue but this one looked green. I guess it all depends on the angle as their head is iridescent. I was also seeing a lot of Red-bellied Woodpeckers today which was a little odd only because I tend to see more of them in winter time. I think I saw 3 or 4 all within a short time frame.
The next bird I spotted I was definitely not expecting to see today. On the north side I walked back into the woods a bit just to see what I might find and there near the ground was an Eastern Phoebe! This really surprised me as I don't typically see much of these until late spring or even summer. They eat only insects and true to form it was flying out short distances to pick them out of the air and then return to the same spot over and over again. I was able to get closer and see glimpses of it's olive-green colored belly. This might have been the closest I've gotten to one so far but it kept landing in a little bush that was blocking it's face. Upon returning to the south side I could see quite a few ducks out near where the creek empties into the lake. There were Mallards, Wood Ducks, Shovelers and even Coots. But there was something else I could not recognize. They were smaller, about 3/4 the size of a Mallard and mostly greyish brown and smooth looking. There was also a female following behind that looked mottled and similar to a female Mallard. At first I thought they were Teals but there were no obvious facial markings.
The male seemed to have a thin white band around it's neck and when he was swimming away from me he seemed to have a rusty colored patch on his back. Something I noticed only later from my photos is that the male seemed to have a dark bill while the female had more of a yellow bill. After going through my field guides I was still having a hard time positively identifying them. After consulting other birders and looking at other photos online, I'm almost positive that they are Gadwall. This is definitely something I've never seen before!
I tried quietly to sneak through the woods but by the time I made it up to the water's edge I'd scared off 2 of the ducks which I then recognized as Northern Shovelers. I've been itching to see these again this year so I parked myself on a log and waited for a while. Eventually a third one that was further out to my left came swimming into view. The first time I saw a Shoveler, it's head looked blue but this one looked green. I guess it all depends on the angle as their head is iridescent. I was also seeing a lot of Red-bellied Woodpeckers today which was a little odd only because I tend to see more of them in winter time. I think I saw 3 or 4 all within a short time frame. 
The next bird I spotted I was definitely not expecting to see today. On the north side I walked back into the woods a bit just to see what I might find and there near the ground was an Eastern Phoebe! This really surprised me as I don't typically see much of these until late spring or even summer. They eat only insects and true to form it was flying out short distances to pick them out of the air and then return to the same spot over and over again. I was able to get closer and see glimpses of it's olive-green colored belly. This might have been the closest I've gotten to one so far but it kept landing in a little bush that was blocking it's face. Upon returning to the south side I could see quite a few ducks out near where the creek empties into the lake. There were Mallards, Wood Ducks, Shovelers and even Coots. But there was something else I could not recognize. They were smaller, about 3/4 the size of a Mallard and mostly greyish brown and smooth looking. There was also a female following behind that looked mottled and similar to a female Mallard. At first I thought they were Teals but there were no obvious facial markings. 
The male seemed to have a thin white band around it's neck and when he was swimming away from me he seemed to have a rusty colored patch on his back. Something I noticed only later from my photos is that the male seemed to have a dark bill while the female had more of a yellow bill. After going through my field guides I was still having a hard time positively identifying them. After consulting other birders and looking at other photos online, I'm almost positive that they are Gadwall. This is definitely something I've never seen before!
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