smidge of midge: Water Foul II

Fall in Madison.

As I have mentioned before one of the great things about spending time in Iceland has been coming to know the place; the plants, animals, and geology of the area. It struck me sometime towards the end of the summer that I know so much more about Mývatn than I do even the place where I grew up. In some ways this makes total sense; I am not doing a PhD in or near West Michigan. On the other hand it seems like one should be at least partly responsible for knowing what is going on in a place you lived for 20+ at least as much as one you have only lived in for little over a single year. It seems to me that this is not just a matter of academics either, because I believe that you appreciate Life that much more when you have a grasp of your own situation. The thing is that ecology is taking place all around you all of the time, whether you know about it or not, so you might as well learn something about it and be amazed. Amazement is, in my mind, the inevitable outcome of learning about ecology but of course I am biased!

A pair of Mallards at my Aunt and Uncle's house.

Well I was amazed two days ago when I spotted some ducks reminiscent of Mývatn on Lake Mendota here in Madison. As mentioned two posts ago, David and I have been keeping an eye out for ducks along the south edge of Mendota for the last month or so. The most numerous birds there at the moment are American Coots and Mallards. But there are also many Canada Geese as well. Knowing of my love for Bucephala David has been telling me about someBuffleheads that he has been seeing lately. Then at the beginning of the week he told me that he had seen a Northern Shoveler! There are only a handful of Shovelers at Mývatn and they hide out in a bay where the landowner was supposed to be rather protective of his land. Of course I come to find out this summer that it is the man that "Extreme Ecologist" Ted named "The G" and I am pretty sure that he would love for us to come see his Skeiðönd. Taking David's tip I stopped by the spot where he said a single male Shoveler was hanging out and "I seen it" as they say.

Coming in for a landing.

The next day as I was leaving my apartment in the morning I loaded up my camera into my bag hoping for a look at these Buffleheads. That effort was in vain because it was really windy and there was hardly a duck to be seen. The next morning I tried again and this time the weather was beautiful. I passed where I normally turn off to go to the lab and rode the next few hundred meters to the duck hangout. As soon as I got there I knew I had hit paydirt since I spotted some Buffleheads immediately. I took a bunch of photos of them and some geese coming in for a landing. I moved on, searching unsuccessfully for the Shoveler, and when I doubled-back I found the Buffleheads even closer to shore. They are vary wary animals however (or maybe I smell bad!) and move away quickly once you make it plain you have your eye on them.

Goldeneye!

When I got back to the office I was quickly looking through my photos and I noticed some strange looking ducks. What I thought were some Buffleheads turned out to be another member of the genus, the Common Goldeneye! I have seen many Buffleheads, and of course a myriad ofBarrow's Goldeneye, but as far as I know Bucephala clangula is a new one for me. Of course if I had seen them before, or even know they were on the lake, I might have known as soon as I spotted them. But uninformed as I am I had to wait until I was back in the lab to discover the truth. I guess it is time to start paying more attention, which seems to be the key to unlocking the not so secret beautiful truths that surround us everyday.