Things are looking up with the arrival of spring. Red-winged blackbirds are showing up and starting to “sing for the girls” as they set up their territories. I’m seeing a good number of ringed-necked ducks that always show up as the ice is disappearing in the marshes. Accompanying them are a fair number of coots and some widgeons.
The northern shoveler, with its big spoon-shaped bill, is also hitting local open marshes.
Canada geese are arriving in good numbers and already starting to lay claims to nesting spots.
Hooded mergansers are also here, and I get excited about photographing a drake when he spreads that black hood, showing off those white patches on his sides. It won’t be long before his super handsome cousin, the male wood duck, arrives to show us his beautiful array of iridescent colors. I get really worked up about photographing this duck because every time he moves, new brilliant colors show up. As a matter of fact, I have a special blind in the flooded part of my woods just to observe and photograph this jewel.
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A wildlife loss has shown up in the Alabama Swamps with the spring thaw. While out photographing last week, I spotted hundreds of fish floating dead along the east shores of Ringneck Marsh on the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge. As more of the ice melted, more dead fish were blown onto the shore.
What killed all these fish? Lack of oxygen. With the winter we had, thick ice on the marshes, along with a heavy cover of snow, prevented sunlight from reaching the aquatic plants and thus they couldn’t produce oxygen for the fish. The plants themselves began to use what little oxygen was left, reducing it even more for the fish. The fish then died because of a lack of oxygen and the increase of gases produced by the decaying plants.
This process also occurs in ponds, even deep ponds. My pond at my cabin is big and deep and contains a lot of nice fish. My friend, who uses the cabin and helps maintain it, informed me last week that when he and his lady friend arrived there, they found the pond covered with all kinds of dead fish, including some prized bass, a lot of blue gill and a 2-1/2 foot grass carp — all from the same type of winter kill. The winter was not only hard on us but on the fish, too.
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A positive thing has been occurring in the swamp recently — tundra swans have been arriving. These birds nest in the Arctic and Canada’s tundra country and winter along the east coast. When they migrate back north, from mid-February to late March, they often spend a bit of time in the Alabama Swamps. They showed up recently in large numbers and could be seen in Kumph Marsh (there is currently no sign marking this marsh) on the Iroquois refuge along Route 77. This marsh attracts them every year in early spring, to the tune of 500 to 800 birds. The best times to see them there are early morning and the last hour of the day, as they travel out to the surrounding farm land to feed during the day. They are a real sight to see as they rest on the shallow marsh and even more so as they come sailing out of the sky with wings cupped to land among the other resting swans.
The tundra swan is a pure white swan with usually a smudge of yellow at the base of its bill. It weighs between 14 and 16 pounds and has a wing span between 5-1/2 and 7 feet. There are also a few trumpeter swans in the area that look similar, but they are bigger (20 to 30 pounds and a wing span between 7 and 8 feet); also, their bills are more wedge-shaped and lack that yellow patch at the base.
The tundra swans won’t be here much longer, so get out and see them! It’s a sight you will never forget.
There are some reports of snow geese up along Lake Ontario, but I haven’t seen any flocks in the swamp area yet. Snow goose is another white bird that travels in masses and is worth the effort to witness in the great outdoors.