EARLY-WINTER WATERFOWL AT ONALASKA

     November is THEE time to experience post-breeding swans, geese and ducks in North America.  At that time they gather in great, mixed flocks on lakes, marshes and rivers, from coast to coast in the United States and feed on a variety of foods, depending on the species.  They build up fat reserves and hardiness for the rough, winter weather to come.  And all species of these waterfowl are handsome, and exciting to experience in each kind's natural habitat.   

     I watched gatherings of tundra swans, Canada geese and a variety of ducks on Lake Onalaska, a large, quiet back-water off the Mississippi River in northwestern Wisconsin, via a live camera and our home computer screen.  I watched from the middle of November until December 13, 2021.  

     The elegant, graceful swans, and their young, came from their nesting territories on the Arctic tundra.  Most of the majestic, beautiful geese arrived from rearing goslings in Canada, and the handsome ducks came to Onalaska from mid-western prairie potholes in the United States and Canada.

     Three major groupings of ducks occupied the shallows and mud flats of Onalaska during November, including puddle ducks, river ducks and bay ducks.  Puddle ducks, including the mallards, northern pintails, American wigeons, gadwalls, green-winged teal and northern shovelers at Onalaska, feed by tipping up in shallow water to shovel up and consume underwater vegetation.  Mallards, pintails and wigeons also feed on corn kernels in harvested corn fields.  And wigeons graze on grass and green shoots of winter rye like swans, geese and sheep do.

     Hen puddle ducks are brown with darker streaking, that camouflages them while rearing ducklings.  Their mates, however are handsomely dressed to impress the ladies for mating.     

     River ducks at Onalaska are the related American goldeneyes and buffleheads, and common mergansers.  The drakes of these species, coincidentally, have black and white feather patterns, while their mates are dusky, which camouflages them.  These attractive species of ducks all dive under water, from the surface, for food, including the goldeneyes and buffleheads for snails, small crustaceans and water vegetation, and mergansers after small fish.

     Bay ducks I've seen on Onalaska include a kind of scaup, ring-necked ducks and canvasbacks.  These species, and others, also dive under water from the surface, to dredge up vegetation mostly.  All waterfowl, by the way, have highly insulated feathering to keep out water and cold.  

     Around December 10, 2021, ice and snow suddenly covered most of Lake Onalaska and its flats. But the magnificent swans and geese, and the different kinds of lovely ducks, continued to swim in the open channels of gently-flowing water.  And those waterfowl species were wonderfully picturesque huddled together on the lake's featureless ice, and snow-covered flats.  All that beauty combined created a grand, inspiring scene of wild, winter charm and cold that caught my interest. 

     It appeared that most of the waterfowl on Onalaska left by December 13.  I only saw a few each of tundra swans, Canada geese and common mergansers on our computer that day.  

     But I also saw several powerful-looking bald eagles and a healthy coyote on the ice at Lake Onalaska on December 13.  Both these permanent resident species of predators and scavengers will be on the lake all winter in search of creatures, both alive or dead, to consume.  In any natural habitat, one saga ends and another begins. Or, more likely, they overlap each other unendingly through the seasons.     

     

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