Ring-necked Duck - 20 Mar 2020

"Covid-19 Pandemic Isolation Journal - Day 1"

8 am: It is day 1 of my self-imposed isolation in light of very serious circumstances. I plan to spend the next several weeks in the house to avoid catching/spreading the virus.

9 am: I'm going birding.

Don't get me wrong. I've spent the last week and a half working late hours as part of a small group of analytics personnel supporting business-critical operations at BASF even though the company has ordered all non-essential personnel to work from home. Anxiety has been weighing on me as reports come in of the spreading infection rate, and for the most part we employees have been avoiding contact. But not everyone, and that has added to the anxiety. If we are not 100% compliant in practicing social distancing, then we are 0% compliant in avoiding the spread of the virus. I've been able to catch up enough to hopefully be able to stay away from the populace for the next several weeks.

That said, the Sun was shining this morning, and it was 66F outside at 9am. Winds were blowing, and forecasts called for a cold-front to move in this afternoon that would drop temps to the 30's overbite, and it would be cloudy and cold the rest of the weekend. I needed a bird fix, so I decided to take a drive to Pt. Mouillee HQ to look for ducks from the safety of the car. I never got farther than the Bridgewater exit.

In the pond next to Arsenal Rd., just under the Bridgewater sign, was a gorgeous drake Ring-necked Duck (Aythea collaris). I pulled over and carefully got out of the car so as not to spook it. I took some long-distance photos from behind the car as a family strolled by the walkway between me and the duck. Since it didn't mind, I was able to move closer on the grass and photograph / digiscope it from 40-70' away.

The male Ring-neck is a stunner and one of my most favorite ducks. Its species description (collaris, or ring-neck) has long been criticized since the rufous-ring collar is barely visible in even the best lighting. The bill is so striking that everyone believes it should be called Ring-billed Duck. I agree.

The Great Lake Regions gets small numbers of these ducks in the winter. Mostly seen on the Detroit River during winter months we tend to see dozens down at Pt. Mouillee as ice-out occurs and they move into the inland ponds of the State Game Area. Otherwise, they are seen only during migration. And, they tend to be very spooky and difficult to photograph. So I was thrilled that this individual was being particularly cooperative.

I took over 1000 photos trying to capture that rufous-ringed neck, but also because the winds were creating some lovely reflections off the water. Every few minutes the colors would change as waves and reflections bounced off the multi-colored bricks of the Bridgewater walls.

Taking so many photos also allows me to burn some of those identification features to my memory. The black breast, gray sides with white shoulder patches that match the bold white borders at the base of the bill and between the black bill and gray nose plate. Of course the glossy purple head appears black in almost all light except those extreme cases when sunlight hits it at just the right angle. And, we can't forget the golden-orange eyeball that forces the photographer to get focus just perfectly or the eye-color will bleed onto the head in photographs.

I would return a few hours later and find the duck gone. It may have moved to Lake Madison, but I could not confirm. Still, I was thrilled to have seen it. Too bad this Canada Goose missed the whole show.