Interesting observations, Don. Now I'm wondering do Bufflehead lay their eggs in other birds nests? Either another Bufflehead or other species as well? I've heard some waterfowl do just that.
-- Sincerely, Jim Ryan Saint Paul's Westside ---- One of the first conditions of happiness is that the link between Man and Nature shall not be broken. -* Leo Tolstoy* A well governed appetite is the greater part of liberty. - *Lucius Annaeus Seneca* ---- On Thu, Apr 28, 2011 at 11:59 AM, Don Darnell <[email protected]>wrote: > Wouldn't THAT be something. > > Not to mislead -- I'm not reporting an active Bufflehead nest here in > Hennepin County -- however, we do have a female Bufflehead bravely > attempting to enter our duck boxes on Red Rock Lake here in Eden Prairie (SW > suburb of Minneapolis). I say bravely because our two in-the-lake boxes are > hotly contested for by the usual Hooded Mergs and Wood Ducks, the tenacious > mergs always winning-out over the more numerous Wood Ducks. I've watched > the female merg go after the female Bufflehead with a vengeance when she > gets near her box, squawking away as she nips the smaller duck in the rear > as the males of both species watch from several feet away. This morning at > breakfast a female Bufflehead (with her male mate nearby) tried to fly into > the entrance hole of one of the boxes but swerved back down to the water > when she saw that the box was occupied. I wonder if she actually has an egg > to push out or if its just extinct that causes her fly up to the box. In > our five years of having at least one duckbox up this is the first time > we've noticed Bufflehead showing signs of wanting to nest here. I see the > range map puts this species' breeding area well across the Canadian border > where it is is known to nest in duck boxes when a smaller cavity is not > available. Wouldn't it be interesting to discover a Bufflehead egg (or a > little Bufflehead) in the box -- however, we do not do nest cams, nor have > the facility to open the box while it is in the lake. > > Any one else have similar Bufflehead experience in Minnesota? I would > expect this has certainly happened before. > > Don Darnell > Eden Prairie > Hennepin Cty. > ---- > Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net > Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html > ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
