Come See the Buffleheads While You Can These two bufflehead drakes (left) and one hen (right) are among the hundreds of waterfowl presently feeding in Lake Michigan. Trivia question – Which two species of wild birds, both cavity-nesters mainly in the North and only winter visitants here with rare exceptions, are to be found on the water? Answer: the bufflehead and common goldeneye ducks. There has been a very good recent build-up of numbers of these interesting waterfowl especially off the Lake Michigan shore. The fact that both of these duck species usually nest in tree cavities surely comes as a surprise to many people and indicates the relatively small size of these creatures. There have been a few confirmed nestings of the common goldeneye in Door County, very likely one of its most southerly nesting sites in the Midwest. If the hen chooses to use an old rotted-out tree, the nest may be made as far down as a dozen or more feet. A flicker nesting cavity from previous years suits both species quite well.< /P> The large flashy white triangular-shaped cheek-spot on both sides of the drake bufflehead’s head, along with the black back and white sides to its body clearly identifies this small diver. The overall-darker female sports a much smaller white cheek-patch. Both are expert divers and disappear quicker than one can wink an eye. Watch them closely when they surface, frequently virtually flying upward with a jump out of the water. One of my very favorite bird references is "The Ducks, Geese and Swans of North America," by Francis H. Kortright. His "life stories" of each species are especially interesting. Around 80% of this bird’s diet consists of animal food with about 30% being made up of crustaceans and mollusks. I strongly suspect that these strong little divers are consuming zebra mussels as part of their winter food. Ordinarily not many buffleheads remain this far north after the middle of January, so now’s the time to get out to see these beautiful creatures. The flocks of as many as 25 to 50 or more that we are now observing are very likely migratory groups, feeding and gradually heading toward the southern reaches of Lake Michigan. There are two other species of ducks that have been building up in large numbers in recent weeks, the redheads and scaups. The latter are commonly referred to as bluebills. Unless one gets a very good look at the scaups, it is difficult to pin them down as either the greater or lesser scaups. Generally the rule of thumb has been to call those scaups seen on the "big water," such as Lake Michigan, greater scaups while the lesser scaups tend to favor open inland bodies of water such as rivers and streams. A few days ago my friend Nick Anderson and I estimated 800 to 900 redheads and 100 or more scaups at Baileys Harbor. The numbers of individuals contained in those long spread-out rafts of redheads are not easy to estimate. I carefully counted the redheads in one of my digital images obtained yesterday. There were close to 75 ducks in what I estimated to be one-tenth or fewer of the entire number within view, constituting three large separate rafts. The redheads were actively feeding, -- diving and often surfacing with green vegetation dangling from the sides of their beaks. My guess is that the plant matter was either the dreaded and highly invasive Eurasian milfoil or a green algae-like plant referred to as a "stonewort," in the genus Chara (KAY-ra). The fact that the zebra mussels have so remarkably cleaned up the water is now enabling sunlight to reach much greater depths, thereby providing these aquatic plants with the needed sunlight and helping to produce immense underwater growths of the plants. At least many of the redheads are being fed. Two other species of ducks will, under ordinary conditions, spend the winter feeding in the waters of Lake Michigan, often fairly near to shore. They are the long-tailed duck, formerly called the oldsquaw, and the common goldeneye. If I were to choose a favorite wild sound of winter I think it would be the soft sweet vibrant whistle of the common goldeneye on a cold quiet winter day. Our good friend of past years, Miss Emma Toft, always called them "whistle-wings," clearly reflected in its scientific name of clangula (CLANG-you-la). Other common names include, whistler, jingler, merry-wing and whistle-diver. If the sound of just one whistler flying nearby is music to the ears, then several flying by are a beautiful earthy symphony. Strangely the female has a slightly different wingbeat bringing about a subtle, airy, tenuous sound as males and females take off from the water in unison with their splashy, pattering, running-on-the-water exit. The food of these ducks is primarily animal life. They will dive to the bottom where they search primarily for crustaceans, mollusks (zebra mussels?) etc., frequently turning over small stones and rocks with their beaks as they look for this aquatic food. The fact that they prefer shallower water, not much deeper than 20 feet, keeps them closer to the shore for easy observations. Goldeneyes, may your wings never be silent and may your winter wings, laced with music, always bring you back to our food-laden waters. Clear, cold, blue winter skies would not be the same without your flashing black and white, your golden eyes and, above all, your sweet musical flight. This column appeared in the Door County Advocate on 01/10/2004. © Copyright 2004 Roy Lukes. All rights reserved.