Sounds like a Bond movie! We heard that there was a Pipit along the South Platte River. Also, we heard that a Barrow’s Goldeneye was also spotted. So yesterday, we headed to the location on the South Platte. Birds often keep returning to the same location every year. This Goldeneye was no exception — last year we saw him there.
The Platte River has several Goldeneyes that are resident during the winter. The Common Goldeneye is very common. So, will we see both male Barrow’s Goldeneye and Common Goldeneye at the same location?
The Barrow’s Goldeneye male has white spots rather than the black stripes that separate the while plumage. And what about male and female Barrow’s and Common Goldeneyes?
The females are difficult to tell apart. So we don’t know whether we saw female Barrow’s. But a couple of the females were following the male Barrow’s Goldeneye. While photographing, I noticed some movement as the male took flight upstream. Two females followed him; one female bird was at the top edge of the frame.
I managed to get a second image as I panned to follow the ducks’ flight path.
The male Barrow’s Goldeneye landed back in the water. When we caught up with the bird, there were four females accompanying him.
Looks like those females were really attracted to the male. Was he trying to swim away?
The group proceeded to swim upstream in one long line, with the females trailing the male.
I made several images of this group. I like the image below, where the female in the lead looked back wards. Was she checking for competition from the other three females?
Soon we headed back towards the parked truck. I noticed a few Bufflehead ducks. In this image, I found a male and female pair swimming together.
They soon joined some more Buffleheads, below.
The river always has a large number of Northern Shovelers. As we walked further, I noticed this male and female, standing as on stilts, next to one another.
Finally, the male Barrow’s had turned around and headed downstream. Was he able to break free from those four femaies?
We both enjoyed the trip to see the Goldeneyes. We never did get to see the Pipit that was reported earlier in the day.