[EBB Sightings] Lake Merritt tufted duck behavior and Huckleberry breeders

I had the pleasure of joining Marilyn's birding group
yesterday at Lake Merritt, where we all had leisurely
looks at that handsome male tufted duck. The only
other time that I had ever seen one was floating far
away, on the assurance of someone else that this was
indeed a tufted duck; sure looked like a scaup to me! 

Up close, and in good light, the differences were
obvious. Our lonely male was noticeably smaller than
the surrounding scaup, and his back was all dark,
accented with a bit of irridescent green; the scaup
had black and white barring on their backs. The tufted
duck's head shone with purple highlights, and oh, that
duck-tail do! 

With great "hair' like that, no wonder one of only
three (I found another one on my return trip, Marilyn)
scaup females found him irresistable! The scaup males
could see the difference, too. A number of males
chased him, and he was even displaced by a lowly coot!
Xenophobia, it's never pretty.

If you want to see him in all his glory, go in the
morning for best light, and just to the East of the
geodesic bird dome, where they feed the ducks. Look
for the scaup flocks. Be sure to position yourself so
that you can see the back color; in glare, they all
look dark-backed. 

I wouldn't be surprised if this male sticks around and
finds himself a female scaup companion; not to produce
young, of course (the spirit might be willing, but the
gene cross is weak!), but for company during those
long Oaktown nights.

Another lonelyheart was a lone, disabled white
pelican, who signaled his breeding readiness with a
large, horny protuberance on top of his beak. Alas,
flightless and sans female, he was all dressed up with
nowhere to go.

The afternoon found me at Huckleberry Preserve, where
I walked the loop with open eyes and ears.
Wilson's warbler males were singing the limits of
their territories, and an orange-crowned male 
added his voice to the warbler chorus. To my ear,
these two birds have always sounded similar, but this
time I could distinctly hear a difference...the OC
male had much more of a warble to his song. Good lord,
am I becoming an ear birder??! 

Last year was the first time that I noticed the orange
feathering above the bill of a primed to go breeding
male Wilson's; I searched for it again yesterday,
mostly in vain, with the birds all above me at
neck-breaking angles, or obscured by branches. I had
given up when one male popped out of the brush and
posed before my eyes, orange feathering obvious.
Thanks, Dude!   

Bewicks wrens were singing and scolding, a CB
chickadee flew by with something fat in its bill
(nestlings already?) and the stacatto songs of
wrentits filled the canyon.

Last week, I saw a Fox Sparrow building a ground nest,
and the very last of the Huckleberry Varied Thrush
females was surreptitiously hopping along a arching
Bay branch. What an amazing winter it has been for
Varied Thrush here in N.CA, both in numbers and
behavior. 

The last four times that I have walked this trail I
have heard the gobblings of turkeys; sounds like they
have discovered this magical place, too. There goes
the acorn crop, if not the neighborhood. 

Debbie Viess