This past November, I spent an afternoon walking with my
family at Choctaw Lake, which is part of Tombigbee National Forest in
Mississippi. Although I have been there
many times over the years, I never tire of it, since there is always something interesting
to see. The main walking trail loops all
the way around the lake, passing—at various points—through woods, up hills, and
over creeks and marshes. Because it was only
mid-November, there was plenty of colorful fall foliage, but it was late enough
in the season that ducks had also begun arriving from up north.
Close to our starting point, a dead tree was partly submerged
at the edge of the lake. In the photo,
you can see tall loblolly pine trees at the far bank (and reflecting in the
water). This species dominates most of
the woodlands in this area. However, deciduous
trees, like the ones in the lower photo, also make quite a showing in some
pockets of forest.
Shortly after we started walking, I realized that there were
several ducks on the open water. Their relatively
small size, compact bodies, long tails, dark caps, and pale cheeks marked them
as Ruddy Ducks. The lighting from this
angle wasn’t great, but, if you look closely, you can see the plumage pattern
that I mentioned. It’s clearest on the
duck in the back.
Here’s another picture of the Ruddy Ducks:
In some of the lower-lying portions of the trail, buttonbush
shrubs provide cover to a variety of wildlife.
As I walked through one of these havens, a covey of at least 15 Northern
Bobwhites flushed, wings furiously beating the air, right in front of me. Unfortunately, they had all left before I
could snap a photo. Other birds in
flight that I saw, but could not photograph, were a pair of Hooded Mergansers
and a flock of six Rick-necked Ducks.
About half an hour later, from a better vantage point, I was
able to observe and take pictures of both Ruddy Ducks and another species that
I hadn’t seen earlier on the walk: Buffleheads!
The pictures below show the Bufflehead ducks mingling with the Ruddy
Ducks. The black-and-white male
Bufflehead in the top photo is obvious, even if the picture quality is a bit
grainy. Female Buffleheads in the lower
photos have brown heads with white “ear” patches, which help to distinguish
them from the Ruddy Ducks. Both Ruddies
and Buffleheads are small ducks that prefer to stay on large bodies of water
during the winter. I was glad to see
them using the habitat at Choctaw Lake.
