Northern Shoveler at Horn Pond. 3/14/2024

A frequent birding friend, Carol M., and I decided to meet up at Horn Pond in Woburn, MA on Pi day to see if we could get some good shots of the Northern Shoveler that had been seen in the back pond. I was also interested in a Virginia Rail that had been reported in the last few days in the reeds. There was no specific location given in ebird for the Rail, but I had some good ideas of prime habitat also in the back pond. Carol and I ended up seeing thirty different species that I later posted in ebird , including three Northern Shovelers (2 males and 1 female) and one Virginia Rail that we clearly heard calling. The latter is a lifer for me! Other notable and beautiful birds were a Wood Duck pair, a Green-winged Teal pair, and numerous American Coot. Love was definitely in the air. As a side note, Northern Shovelers are an infrequent dabbling duck visitor that are seen during their migration to the North. They are aptly named Shovelers due to their shovel-shaped beaks that they swish back and forth in the water. If you look closely, you can see that their beaks have little projections on either side, called lamellae, that help in filtering out small insects, invertebrates, and seeds somewhat like a colander. I caught one male in the act of preening, and it is the first time I was able to appreciate all of its colorful plumage. In order below: Wood Ducks, male Green-winged Teal, American Coot, male Northern Shoveler.