Resting Up For The Big Journey

  Living in the Deep South, we get a good amount of migrating birds during the late fall.  They arrive, spend the winter with us and then journey back to their summer homes.  Here on the Bayou, the most evident are the water birds.  Waterfowl are abundant on the Bayou year round but come winter, we see many more.  Very few nest here and make trip back northward each springtime.  With winter being slim to none, the birds are a bit confused and are already preparing for the flight home.  I am not so sure that is a good idea after looking at the weather reports of some places in the northern regions.  We may not have had winter but it does appear that others are still quite chilly.  What are those birds thinking??

  For the past few mornings, (what I think are) scaups are gathering in front of the pier.  What started out as four or five has turned into quite a large raft of near a hundred.  The early hikes to the pier usually finds them adrift rather nearby but once they are alerted to our presence, the group slowly makes its way to the middle of the Bay.  It takes a few minutes for the "lookout" duck to alert all of the others since they are literally "asleep on the job".  Most are dozing with their heads turned backwards on their backs with their bills nestled in their feathers.  This is a common method of resting for both Greater and Lesser Scaups. (Since I could not get a great view of the birds, I could not distinguish which they were.)  Scaups and most other ducks will sleep in this position as to keep their wide bills warm!  (Smart birds.)  One or two of the ducks will be on watch to alert the others to possible dangers.  The birds will alternate the task so each can rest.  

  With hundreds of miles to travel, the scaups will congregate in the Bay until time to take flight.  Here they will spend the time resting and feeding.  Their flight northward usually occurs at night so one morning soon, my friends will be gone.  Rest easy, my friends.  You have a long journey ahead of you.