Waterfowl On The Sudbury River - December

     

 

I have been walking, photographing, and fishing, around Wickford bridge, in Framingham for the past three years. in 2021, I started to notice that there were far more waterfowl living under and around Wickford bridge than I'de ever seen. Groups of 80 canada geese, equally large flocks of mallards. Both hooded and common mergansers started to appear. Not only were there lots of waterfowl, but I realized that bald eagles and kingfishers were hunting along the river. The same exact thing happened in the winter of 2022. 

    I now know that this happens because birds that rely on water to feed are forced to migrate to faster, flowing water because the lakes and ponds they would normally feed off of get completely frozen over, preventing them from feeding. Bald eagles, kingfishers, mergansers, and great blue herons need to come to the river to access fish, while mallards, canada geese, and mute swans need the water to feed on aquatic plants. I'm guessing the mergansers flew in from Heard Pond, and Lake Cochituate, and I'm guessing the geese and ducks spend the summer in the wetlands next to Framingham High School.

    This year, I've been anticipating the arrival of the waterfowl for about a month, as I got sick of photographing the screech owl, the harriers, and my other locations I use in the fall. I was waiting for water to start freezing over. We finally ended up having a small snow storm on December 11th. I visited the river the morning after, and already, about 100 feet away, a pair of hooded mergansers were fishing. The pair stayed together the entire time I watched them, regrouping inbetween dives.

...And after a few minutes, the male actually caught a fish. I only realized it when I was looking back through the photos on my computer. It's hard to see the fish, but knowing what fish live in this part of the river, It's either a pike, young largemouth bass, or bluegill. I was too far from the merganser to get a good enough shot to be able to identify the fish.

There was also a flock of at least 22 mallards closer to me, taking shelter in the cattails. Many of them had their heads tucked in, to help conserve body heat. All of these ducks are unmated. They will pair up in April, but their courtship starts in February.

Through the cattails, I also made out the shape of a great blue heron on a log, waiting for fish...

While walking home from school on the day after, I crossed Wickford Bridge and instantly noticed the same hooded merganser pair again, in the same spot as the day before. I realized my SD card had been left at home. I finished my walk home and grabbed the card. By the time I returned, I couldn't find them. I did however, find the same flock of canada geese I remember from last winter, in the middle of the river. I count 29 geese in the photo below...

They didnt seem to be feeding or swimming. The flock was clearly in a very shallow area, because they were standing up, either sleeping or preening.

On the other side of the bridge, I noticed 2 white shapes gliding along in the water. I walked down Linda Ave, to see what they were. It was a pair of mute swans. This pair has been living and breeding here for years. This year they had a brood of 7 cygnets, but they were all gone fast compared to the pair of young they had the year before, who stuck around through January, spending almost the whole year with their parents. The pair of swans is already cygnet free again, feeding almost nonstop, to build up enough fat to have a healthy brood next year...

                    They stayed along the side of the thin sheet on ice on the other side of the river. 

I came back the day after, and instantly noticed the pair of hooded mergansers, moving downstream. I watched them from wickford bridge, but I noticed they were getting really close to the park downstream, so I walked to that park, and I couldn't believe how close they were. They were probably only about 30 feet away. I heard a splash. The female was now flapping fast downstream. I took out my camera just in time to catch the male following her. I've noticed that with wood ducks, and mergansers, the females almost always leave first, and then the male leaves, not scared, but trying to stay with it's mate.

 I knew I could catch them again if I followed the peninsula out, to a straight stretch of river. I hacked through the greenbrier, and finally got to the marshy area that looked out onto where the pair had landed. They had met up with another pair of hooded mergansers, and the 4 birds were fishing their way upstream, towards me.

Interestingly, they stayed as a group of 4 for around 10 minutes, fishing the whole time. I don't think they stayed together to be social, I think they were all chasing the same school of bluegill. They took turns disappearing underwater for a while. Eventually, the same flock of geese from yesterday same floating down the river, passing by the mergansers. One of the pairs followed the geese, and one stayed to keep fishing. I stayed in my hidden spot, hoping they would try to return to where they were earlier, forcing themselves through a narrow section that would allow me to get close up photos, but I think they saw me, so they stayed in place.

I then noticed a pair of canada geese soaring upstream, towards me, that landed and joined the original flock. I took photos the whole way:

The day after that, the temperature jumped up into the 40s, and it started pouring. Most of the snow and ice melted, and I could no longer find the hooded mergansers. I will do an update when the eagles show up.