The Loch Ness Scoter! + Illinois Fence Wallaby! -Lake Springfield Birding (Part Two of Two)

(This article is a continuation of the post found here.) The Loch Ness Scoter, also known as a White-Winged Scoter (Melanitta deglandi), is the bird in the center facing right.  As you can tell, it is larger than the Ruddy Ducks (Oxyura jamaicensis) all lined up in a row in front of it.  I am fairly certain that the black dot in the top right of the picture is another scoter, but it's too far away to tell.  Based on the fact that White-Winged Scoters are large sea ducks and one of the few almost entirely black ducks in Illinois, I'm fairly certain that's what it is.   This is probably the rarest waterfowl species I saw that day.  But, to recap:  I saw six pochard species (Aythya spp.) on the south side of the lake, as well as goldeneyes (Bucephala clangula), Ruddy Ducks and Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos).  I then went to the north side of the lake and saw American Coots (Fulica americana).  Shortly afterwards,  I took this picture.

As you can see, the scoter has emerged fully and has decieded to imitate the Ruddy Ducks.  By that I mean it is currently doing what Ruddy Ducks do best- fleeing from a camera so that they are not in focus.  Being a bigger bird, it has decided to go further away.  So, walking on further, I spotted yet another duck species!

Oho!  First, we have a dark shape on the left, which is a submerged scoter, in fact the one of the last two pictures.  Second, in the center and the lower right, we have  Ruddy Ducks mingling with my favorite duck species, the Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola).  Then, having startled a few more ducks, I spotted another favorite of mine:

First off, there appears to be a Scaup of some species in the background, top right, the big duck facing down and right.  In the front, however, is a Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus).  This brings the species count up to twelve, and at this point, I've just about lost it.  I am that excited.  Hooded Mergansers are fairly common ducks, often found in the same areas as Wood Ducks, and they occasionally nest in trees, in the same nest.  They are always an exciting duck species to see, so I'm glad to see it.  This is a male, by the way.  The female Hooded Merganser is a bit more drab.  Most female ducks are, as they want to hide on the nest.  Male ducks use their colors to attract mates.

Here is a female Bufflehead, along with an American Coot.  The female Bufflehead is eating a fish that it just dove and caught.  While not so colorful as the male, female Buffleheads are still very attractive ducks.  Coots, by contrast, have the same plumage whether male or female.

Near the far side of the bay, a small group of Common Goldeneyes lined up on the water.  Then, in front of me, a group of hitherto-unnoticed Buffleheads fled from me.  Apparently, as I had approached, they had seen me coming from their position under the bushes near the edge of the water.  The buffleheads slowly sailed away in formation, the big heads showing why the frontier nickname for this duck, buffalo-head, is, in a shortened form, still the common name.

Evidently, several other ducks watched from further away.  The duck on the far left has a red bill, and the duck on the far right is a female Scaup, likely a Lesser Scaup.   A duck with a red bill?  Hmm...

Before I could figure out what species it was,  the Buffleheads decided to leave, as shown below.

The Hooded Merganser decided to leave, too.  I wish there was a blind or something in this area for birdwatchers.  I really didn't mean to disturb the ducks.

The Buffleheads in flight, at least as a consolation, was still an impressive  image.

I'm not entirely sure of the species in flight below.  It appears to have a reddish bill, but the colors don't match the Common Merganser, nor does the bill.  Four of the same ducks are present among the Ruddy Ducks.  They skitter across water like diving ducks when taking off.  Two of them are present on the water below the ones in flight on the left.  When I wrote the first article,  I identified these as Common Mergansers (Mergus merganser), but they are clearly not, for reasons that are evident below.

The Ruddy Ducks got all excited and joined in.   They didn't go far.

Are the birds on bottom White Winged Scoters?  I love it when I just don't have enough zoom for a complete image.  Still, I've got a Peterson Field Guide on my lap and enough curiosity to kill an army of cats.  Additionally, it's better than when I couldn't see them because I had a camera without enough zoom to even focus on those specks in the water.  I cannot stress this enough.  It's darned near impossible to see these birds in any detail with the naked eye.  That's part of the reason I love Buffleheads so much.  They are clearly identifiable, even from a great distance away.

 Bird #15 of the day, the REAL Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) is visible in the upper left.  The sold black head, white body, and LONG, THIN red bill is a dead giveaway.  It was hiding among several Common Goldeneyes and gulls.  I've no doubt that there were more mergansers out on the lake that I didn't see.  I also don't know what the birds in the lower right are.  I just got into birding seriously this year, in January, as you all know from my Nipper Wildlife Sanctuary posts.

Nearby was the rare Illinois Fence Wallaby.  This is an extremely uncommon local endemic species that I was very lucky to see. 

In all seriousness, the Henson Robinson Zoo is attached to this park.  I could hear the peacocks inside calling while I was walking around.  At this point,  I crossed the road and went back on the other side of the lake.   I was trying to photograph the pochards, but accidently fell through some bushes and nearly into the lake.  Thankfully, I regained my composure fast enough to land a few shots of the ducks.  The ducks probably prefer these shots to the ones they are used to.

Out further, a flock of  Lesser Scaups faced westward into the setting sun as a Mallard flew by.

A single male Bufflehead flew out among the Ruddy Ducks, the reflection and patterns in the water making the scene idyllic.

No day is complete without one good bird of prey, and an immature bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is the perfect capper to the perfect day of birding.  The wings are level, indicating that the bird is an eagle and not a Turkey Vulture, the only other possibility in this area for a black bird of prey with exposed wingtip feathers.

The sun was setting, and I knew I had to get home.  I had left at 3:00 in the afternoon, and it was nearly 5:15 at this point.  It had been a wonderful two hours of birding.  A few Mallards rested on the water, dabbing quietly in the soft light.

I passed back by the Red-Headed Woodpecker's (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) hole, and a little head stuck out, eyeing me carefully as I walked by.

My favorite picture of the day, and the one I want to end on, even after seeing so many different species, is simple.  A young, immature Ring-Billed Gull (Larus delawarensis), looking carefully as it winds its way across the blue waters.  While it's not even the best picture of the day, (you will see those pictures in about ten days),  I somehow still like it.   The whole day of course, was me winding my way across the park, looking carefully in as many directions as I could.  This was probably one of the better days of my birding career, and I'm just getting started.