Some Diving Water Birds

     On December 1, 2016, I stopped at a few human-made lakes that are fairly close to each other in southeastern Pennsylvania to look for migrant water birds other than the mallard ducks and Canada geese that are almost always on those impoundments.  At the first lake I saw 20 ring-necked ducks, two pied-billed grebes and two immature white-winged scoter ducks.  I saw three more pied-billed grebes at the next lake and two ruddy ducks on the third one.  Though few in diversity and numbers because most of their kinds have not been pushed south yet by cold weather and freezing waters,  these diving water birds were interesting to experience, considering where they raised young, how far they traveled, their repeated and entertaining diving under water for food, and their life histories.  And, interestingly, there is limited competition for food among these diving birds.  Each species has its own menu for the most part.
     I saw those water birds on a somber day of heavy, gray clouds, patched here and there with yellow and pale-orange from sunlight, and the gray water that reflected the sky.  Though foreboding, the sky was beautiful and interesting, looking much like a water color painting.
     The birds were in open water close to shore where I got excellent views of them through my 16 power binoculars.  They were in the shallows near land because that's where a lot of their under water food is and because I stayed in my car, parked at the water's edge, so as to not scare the birds away.  Most wildlife is frightened by the human figure, but not by vehicles.
     Ring-necked ducks are common, and the most inland of bay ducks.  They nest on fresh water lakes and ponds on Canadian prairies and winter on inland, fresh water lakes, while their relatives the scaups, canvasbacks and other species winter on salt or brackish water of large estuaries.  Because these adaptable ducks winter on inland and built ponds and lakes, ring-necks are more easily and regularly seen than their estuary relatives.  And ring-necks are becoming more common in the east than what they had been, adding to the numerous sightings of them here in winter.
     Drake ring-necks are attractive, being dark on top with pale-gray flanks.  Females are brown, which camouflages them while raising young.  But this species should be called ring-billed duck because the faint ring on the neck is barely visible, but their is a white ring on the spoon-like beak of each bird, both male and female.       
     Members of each flock of ring-necks rest together while bobbing on open water a little distance out from shore.  They also feed together, mostly on aquatic plants and seeds, and a little of water insects and snails, all foods they dive under water to get.
     The common pied-billed grebes, like all their clan, are duck-like, but are not ducks.  They are duck-like because wildlife of a habitat are molded by their home into similar beings.  Loons, grebes, cormorants, geese, swans and other kinds of water birds are built like boats so they can easily push through the water they live on.      
      Pied-bills hatch young on vegetative rafts in the shallows of ponds across most of North America and winter in the more southern part of this continent.  Pied-bills slip under water to capture and eat crayfish, small crustaceans such as scuds, aquatic insects and small fish.  Their heads bob forward as they swim on the surface, as if those heads are pulling their bodies along.
     The two scoters were also diving to the lake's bottom, to shovel up water plants, scuds, water insects, snails and crayfish.  Those ducks had migrated from Canadian prairies where they hatched, but will, ultimately, winter in salt water along the Atlantic coast.
     Ruddy ducks hatch young near shallow water in fresh water lakes and ponds on the Canadian prairies, and some of them migrate into southeastern Pennsylvania for the winter.  Ruddies ingest aquatic vegetation mostly, and some water insects.
     These are just a few diving water birds I happened to see in a few local lakes recently.  They were intriguing because they are migrants and dive entertainingly under water to get food.