• Avian

    Common Golden-eye

    Golden-eye

    Since we had open water on our lake throughout this winter season there have hen several Common Goldeneye. Crustaceans as their predominant prey during migration and winter so the open water supplies that. They are one of the prettiest ducks so I have enjoyed watching them feed and hope to see more of them this summer.

    In contrast to the mallards I wrote about yesterday, both the breeding and winter habitat of these birds has been degraded by clearance and pollution. However, this is the only duck in North America known to derive short-term benefits from lake acidification. Information courtesy of Wikipedia.