With the annual Cape Cod Waterfowl Census coming up this weekend, it’s time to talk ducks. But first I need to make good on my teaser from last week about the latest wacky rare bird to drop by the Cape – specifically the ocean side of Wellfleet. That rare bird was an Elegant Tern, and is about an unlikely a visitor as you could dream up for late November on Cape Cod.
Elegant Terns are birds exclusively of the Pacific Ocean. Though a couple of colonies exist off Southern California, almost all of the world’s population nests on a single island off the Baja Peninsula of Mexico. In the winter, most of them head down to the Pacific coasts of Ecuador, Peru, and Chile. For those keeping score at home, this bird flew a minimum of 6000 wrong-way miles to reach Cape Cod, which explains why this is only the third record of this species for Massachusetts, and the only fall record. It’s not clear if it’s still around, but you should be on the lookout for a large, shaggy-crested tern with a long yellow-orange bill. You may see it on the side of Rt. 6 holding a sign that says “Baja or Bust”. Or maybe not.
But back to the ducks. No, wait – sorry. I have to talk about one other cool bird first. A Painted Bunting just turned up at a feeder on Nantucket in the last few days. And not just any Painted Bunting – this bird is a male. One or two Painted Buntings turn up annually on the Cape and Islands, but they are rarely males. And why does this matter? Just look at the photo – it’s hard to do justice to a male Painted Bunting with mere words. This bird is a fever dream of nuclear-powered colors. They look like they were made from the spare parts of several tropical birds, and though they breed in the southern United States, look hopelessly out of place in the temperate zone. It’s more common to see young birds or females here on the Cape, and they are easy to pick out as well. They’re the only green songbird in the eastern US.
Ok, I’m really getting back to the ducks now. The Cape Cod Waterfowl Census, traditionally held the first weekend in December, will take place this Saturday and Sunday. The survey was started in 1983 by local birding legend Blair Nikula, and is now run by the Cape Cod Bird Club. Volunteers spread out across the Cape to cover over 250 freshwater lakes and ponds. Typically, the birders tally around 10,000 individuals representing 25 or 30 species of ducks, geese, loons, and grebes. Over 40 species of waterfowl have turned up on the surveys over the years.
The most common duck may not be what you guessed. While the familiar mallard is the second most common freshwater duck in winter, the tiny and adorable Bufflehead takes the trophy “most abundant”. These versatile little diving ducks are at home everywhere from tiny ponds, to big lakes, and salt bays, where they feed on snails and small molluscs. Bird-savvy locals know the arrival of Buffleheads on their local pond foretells of the coming winter.
I’ll check back in a few weeks to talk about this year’s results. In the meantime, if you happen to see anyone counting ducks this weekend, say hello. Just don’t get too chatty because they’ve got work to do – those ducks don’t count themselves.
