Migrating Ducks Find Emergency Refuge on the Susquehanna
As anticipated, lakes and ponds throughout the lower Susquehanna basin are beginning to freeze. Fortunately for the waterfowl thereon, particularly diving ducks, the rain-swollen river is slowly receding and water clarity is improving to provide a suitable alternative to life on the man-made impoundments.
The Susquehanna, ice-free and receding from near flood stage levels last week, can presently provide suitable habitat for diving ducks and other wintering waterfowl.A feeding Common Merganser takes a breather between dives on the Susquehanna in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania.
The deep freeze is not only impacting ponds and lakes in the lower Susquehanna valley, but is evidently affecting the larger bodies of water to our north and northwest. During Tuesday’s snow event, thousands of diving ducks arrived on the main stem of the river—apparently forced down by the inclement weather while en route to the Atlantic Coast from the Great Lakes and its connected waterways, which are currently beginning to freeze.
Tuesday’s snowfall not only blanketed the landscape with a coating of white,……it prompted thousands of migrating “bay ducks” including Canvasbacks, Redheads, scaup, and other diving species to seek open water and make a forced landing.Scaup were by far the most numerous of the birds in the grounded flight. The majority appeared to be Lesser Scaup.Scaup in flight on the Susquehanna.A mixed raft of scaup and Buffleheads seen one day after a snowstorm-related fallout of late-season migrants. A single Long-tailed Duck, a species formerly known as Oldsquaw, can be seen to the lower left.Scaup and a Bufflehead (center) fly past a Long-tailed Duck. Because they winter primarily in coastal waters, both of the latter species are sometimes categorized as “sea ducks”.A small flock of Ruddy Ducks.While Common Mergansers on the Susquehanna are fish eaters (piscivores), other diving ducks observed during this fallout event are primarily benthic feeders, eating plant matter and invertebrate animals collected from the river bottom.A small flock of Common Goldeneyes. They, like the Long-tailed Duck and Bufflehead, are sometimes known as a species of “sea duck”.Another mixed raft of scaup and Buffleheads loafing on the Susquehanna.Large numbers of waterfowl attract the attention of the river’s ever-vigilant Bald Eagles.An adult Bald Eagle patrolling the area of a fallout in search of dead, sick, or injured ducks. In addition to the victims of naturally occurring ailments, eagles find birds and mammals wounded or killed by hunters to be particularly attractive sources of food. They can, therefore, quite easily ingest pieces of shot. Because eagles in the lower Susquehanna valley feed as frequently in upland habitats as they do in riverine environs, use of alternatives to toxic lead shot is prudent practice in all habitat types.A Bald Eagle in the first month of its fourth calendar year. Though not yet matured to breeding age, this bird is nevertheless smart enough to be on the lookout for vulnerable or deceased waterfowl during a post-storm fallout.A fallout of some migrating waterfowl seldom escapes notice by members of the gasoline and gunpowder gang……who find their very presence an irresistible temptation to arouse their adolescent urges……to get an adrenaline junkie’s fix.
With more snow on the way for tomorrow, you may be wondering if another fallout like this could be in the works. The only way to find out is to get out there and have a look. Good luck! And be good!
