Annual duck hunt with the boys

The annual Thanksgiving duck hunt with the boys took place for the sixth year in a row yesterday. The goal is to find 10 ducks species, but the boys don’t really care one way or the others. We come close if you stick with a strict definition of ducks.

We saw: goldeneye, mallard, black duck, hooded merganser, wood duck, ring-necked duck, and gadwall. (No wigeon, pintail, bufflehead, red-breasted merganser). But we did find plenty of other fowl, such as brant, Canada geese, double-crested cormorant, and common loon. In fact, Calf Pasture Beach had 100s of brant. So, not a bad day overall. The most important thing — and the whole point of the exercise — is that it was a fun morning spent with the boys.

Happy holidays everyone. Stay tuned for information on the upcoming Christmas Bird Counts.