...Two Shovelers Shoveling

[EdV]

After my experience at Barnegat Light, we headed up to the lakes in the North Shore (NJ) area. On one lake there were 6 or 7 pairs of Northern Shovelers. They were all swimming around like this pair. Not sure what that was about but I thought it was interesting.

I'll have to check, I may have a better image somewhere amongst today's images.

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s1/EdV_02/173_1.jpg

[Howler-Cat]

Maybe she was playing hard to get?! Nice capture Ed! :)

[ngannet]

Really a cool shot! I love how low they are in the water. I was at the North Shore today too and was THRILLED to single out a Black-headed Gull and a Little Gull out of the 50+ Bonaparte's at Manasquan Inlet. Not only that, i got tons of pictures of them. Also saw a Red-necked Grebe at one of the lakes in Pt. Pleasant and 30 ish Snow Buntings at Shark River Inlet. Probably the best day I've had at the N. Shore as far as good close looks at rare birds. I watched the gulls for nearly 2 hours.

[EdV]

Maybe she was playing hard to get?! Nice capture Ed! :)

Thanks. I appreciate the comments. As I was looking through my images from yesterday, I came across another slightly better image with the female "shoveling" behind the male! ;)

Really a cool shot! I love how low they are in the water. I was at the North Shore today too and was THRILLED to single out a Black-headed Gull and a Little Gull out of the 50+ Bonaparte's at Manasquan Inlet. Not only that, i got tons of pictures of them. Also saw a Red-necked Grebe at one of the lakes in Pt. Pleasant and 30 ish Snow Buntings at Shark River Inlet. Probably the best day I've had at the N. Shore as far as good close looks at rare birds. I watched the gulls for nearly 2 hours.

Thanks Bob. It was a tough decision on our part as to whether we would go to Barnegat first or just cover the North Shore. We really didn't make the decision until about the 99 mile marker on the GSP just before Exit 98 to Pt Pleasant, etc. If we would have gone straight to Pt Pleasant, we would have pretty much followed the same path as you.

As it was, got to Barnegat just before 9 am and left around Noon. We pulled into Spring Lake at 1 pm and had a not-so-quick sandwich at "Who's on Third". By the time we got out it was 2 pm so we hit Lake Como (not much to speak of but lots of gulls that all look alike to me! :)) and Silver Lake (where there was more variety but nothing terribly exciting). We did count 25 Black-crowned Night Herons in the island rookery. We finished up with a quick look at Shark River Inlet but didn't see anything there.

By the way when we first got to Barney, we did encounter a small flock of we believe are Horned Larks. I did get a couple of photos which I may post later if they look ok. They were all on the sand and pebbles. Not a lot of contrast on an overcast morning. We shall see.

[HWP]

Great shot Ed. I really like the way you used the sort of panoramic rectangle crop. Very nice.

Henry

[BradM]

Nice framing Ed, but it does look like they are swimming up hill to my eye.

The behavior is just that there is a bloom or hatch of insects in the water that they are seineing out of the water with their beaks. These birds will also swim together in a very tight circle creating a small vortex lifting food from the lake bottom for them eat. I have seen as many as 20 birds doing this latter behavior and you could actually see the water swirling amidst the circle of furiously paddeling ducks.

[pttenn]

"Two Shovelers shoveling"....and a partridge in a pear tree! Sorry, couldn't reisit!
Karen

[ngannet]

Thanks. I appreciate the comments. As I was looking through my images from yesterday, I came across another slightly better image with the female "shoveling" behind the male! ;)



Thanks Bob. It was a tough decision on our part as to whether we would go to Barnegat first or just cover the North Shore. We really didn't make the decision until about the 99 mile marker on the GSP just before Exit 98 to Pt Pleasant, etc. If we would have gone straight to Pt Pleasant, we would have pretty much followed the same path as you.

As it was, got to Barnegat just before 9 am and left around Noon. We pulled into Spring Lake at 1 pm and had a not-so-quick sandwich at "Who's on Third". By the time we got out it was 2 pm so we hit Lake Como (not much to speak of but lots of gulls that all look alike to me! :)) and Silver Lake (where there was more variety but nothing terribly exciting). We did count 25 Black-crowned Night Herons in the island rookery. We finished up with a quick look at Shark River Inlet but didn't see anything there.

By the way when we first got to Barney, we did encounter a small flock of we believe are Horned Larks. I did get a couple of photos which I may post later if they look ok. They were all on the sand and pebbles. Not a lot of contrast on an overcast morning. We shall see.

Well, sifting through the gulls at Lake Como is a daunting task, and there was nothing out of the ordinary there that I could see. I was also looking for a Brant x Snow Goose Hybrid that was photographed there recently, no luck. The 25 BC Night Herons (same count I got!) was really amazing, they are such gorgeous birds. Shark River inlet wasn't exciting. Thankfully one of the Snow Buntings quickly appeared on the jetty as I was heading back to the car and gave the rest of the flock away who were feeding in the goldenrod stubble next to the jetty. Good place to look for them anyway. That's cool you saw Horned Larks at Barney. I've seen them there before and Snow Buntings and occasionally Lapland Longspurs hang out with them. Difficult to approach sometimes. Looking forward to seeing your other shots. I hope to get some of mine up in the next few days. I was tempted to go back to the N Shore today but what are the chances I would have two incredible days in a row? Think I'll pursue a Barnacle Goose that has been spotted very close to home.

[Anke]

Nice one, Ed. I love these guys! :D

[EdV]

Nice framing Ed, but it does look like they are swimming up hill to my eye.

The behavior is just that there is a bloom or hatch of insects in the water that they are seineing out of the water with their beaks. These birds will also swim together in a very tight circle creating a small vortex lifting food from the lake bottom for them eat. I have seen as many as 20 birds doing this latter behavior and you could actually see the water swirling amidst the circle of furiously paddeling ducks.

Thanks Brad. The female was a bit farther back than the male. That may contribute to the uphill feeling.

As a long time fly fisherman, I am very familiar with hatching aquatic insects. It was warm enough yesterday for some midges or small olives but I associate those with moving water not a small lake (more like a pond). OH well.

"Two Shovelers shoveling"....and a partridge in a pear tree! Sorry, couldn't reisit!
Karen

That's Ok Karen. The thought crossed my mind when I wrote it! :)

Nice one, Ed. I love these guys! :D

Thanks Anke. Glad you liked the image.

[EdV]

Well, sifting through the gulls at Lake Como is a daunting task, and there was nothing out of the ordinary there that I could see. I was also looking for a Brant x Snow Goose Hybrid that was photographed there recently, no luck. The 25 BC Night Herons (same count I got!) was really amazing, they are such gorgeous birds. Shark River inlet wasn't exciting. Thankfully one of the Snow Buntings quickly appeared on the jetty as I was heading back to the car and gave the rest of the flock away who were feeding in the goldenrod stubble next to the jetty. Good place to look for them anyway. That's cool you saw Horned Larks at Barney. I've seen them there before and Snow Buntings and occasionally Lapland Longspurs hang out with them. Difficult to approach sometimes. Looking forward to seeing your other shots. I hope to get some of mine up in the next few days. I was tempted to go back to the N Shore today but what are the chances I would have two incredible days in a row? Think I'll pursue a Barnacle Goose that has been spotted very close to home.

Looking at all those gulls on Como, I just decided to pass. Barb, my wife, is the official Heron counter. It was very cool to see so many just hanging out on the island.

I want to get back and do a full North Shore tour as soon as possible - maybe next weekend if it is nice.

[canondslruser]

I've never had the opportunity to see Shovelers. An interesting behaviour image.

[EdV]

I've never had the opportunity to see Shovelers. An interesting behaviour image.

Thanks. I appreciate the comments.