December Surprises!

It was nice and mild this morning, but I didn’t think it was ever going to get light out. The streetlights didn’t turn off until 8am, and that’s when I finally headed out the door.

The first surprise came just above the falls where I found the hooded merganser hen taking a nap all by her lonesome.

What happened to the bufflehead, her steady companion for the past week or so? Did they have a spat? Is one not feeling well? It was all very troubling.

Fortunately, the answer came soon enough, at the north end, where I found not one, but two buffleheads amongst the mallards!

Perhaps the “friendship” was all just a ruse, a relationship of convenience. Perhaps I’m just reading way too much into this.

Anyway, as I was seeing if I could get a better shot of the buffleheads, there was suddenly a commotion, with loud mallard honking, just off the southern tip of the northern island, and look who soon retired to a branch overhead.

It sure looks as though a young Cooper’s hawk made a try for a mallard, which seems like a tough matchup. Cooper’s hawks weigh only about 1 lb, and mallards vary from 1.5 to 3.5 lb. Just think of the logistical challenges. Might I suggest a nice 4.5-oz mourning dove? I know where there are a few downstream.