Brinkman Birding and Other Outdoor Adventures: Enjoying Ducks, Swans and Geese with Adam

Today I took my eight year old son, Adam, to Fernald Preserve to do some wildlife photography. He enjoyed seeing swans and geese, and particularly enjoyed the wildlife viewing blind. On the way there, I counted five Red-tailed Hawks and three American Kestrels, a good omen for a decent raptor day. We stopped in Ross, Ohio for lunch and then headed to Fernald.

Our waterfowl list included the following (numbers of ducks are my best estimates):

160 Canada Goose
1 Mute Swan
6 Tundra Swan
30 Gadwall
80 Mallard
4 Northern Shoveler (all males)
6 Redhead
30 Ring-necked Duck

Seven swans can be seen here, six Tundra and one Mute.

The Mute Swan was aggressive toward the Tundra Swans and Canada Geese. An aggressive interaction can be seen here in the second photo below.

One of the Tundra Swans took flight and never returned to Lodge Pond.

This particular bird wanted to land, but aborted the landing. Was the Mute Swan keeping this Tundra Swan from landing safely on the water?

Is this the Beatles?

In addition to the waterfowl seen today, I also recorded 3 Northern Harriers, 3 Red-tailed Hawks and 2 American Kestrels.

Red-tailed Hawk, photographed from vehicle.

Another Red-tailed Hawk taking off from a telephone pole.

Male American Kestrel, photo taking through windshield.

Northern Harriers did not come close enough for a good photo. I was hoping for one to fly by the wildlife blind but it wasn't to be today. I'll get my harrier shot eventually, It takes a lot of patience, or luck, to get a photo of the desired species.

Raptor count today, including those en route to and from Fernald include the following:

Northern Harrier 3

Red-tailed Hawk 8

American Kestrel 6

The remaining five Tundra Swans took flight around 3:00 p.m. today, heading in the direction of the visitor center, which was closed today.