[mou] FW: [mnbird] the biggest news in MN Birding

[Alt, Mark]

Clarification from someone who knows.

-----Original Message-----
From: John Schladweiler [mailto:john.schladweiler@dnr.state.mn.us]=20
Sent: Monday, December 06, 2004 11:58 AM
To: Mark.Alt@bestbuy.com
Subject: Re: [mnbird] the biggest news in MN Birding

Mark,=20

My thoughts are that the cans and other ducks in the flock were not
eating fish.  Cans are almost entirely vegetarians as are ring necks,
although they will eat zebra mussels.  I think they were probably over a
bed of some type of submergent vegetation.  The brown coloring could
just be sediment stirred up by their feeding activity.

John

>>> "Alt, Mark" <Mark.Alt@bestbuy.com> Monday, December 06, 2004 >>>

On the way back the ducks were closer to the western shore and I saw
first large rafts of Canvasbacks and Common Goldeneyes. The Can's
engaged in a skirmish line feeding behavior, I am not certain what I
saw, but here is how I interpreted it.  A narrow strip of water was
brownish, contrasting to the grayish blue of the surrounding waters.
Canvasbacks that were swimming in this water, which I estimated to be
about 70 feet long and about 10 feet wide, numbered to about 1000
birds.
I was focused more eon behaviors than numbers this day. There were
some
Lesser Scaup, Goldeneyes and Ring-necks mixed in, but the flock seemed
to be 80 % Can's. The ducks dived frenetically; it appeared there were
about 25% submerged at any one time.  The ducks were diving as quickly
as they could. I am familiar with Gizzard Shad, a silver shiner, so
the
brown color to the water had me confused, was it a different fish or
organism they were feeding on? I do not know, but I presume the school
of fish was being fed on from below, hence the schooling together,
then
the pack of diving ducks fed until full.  I wasn't sure Canvasbacks
eat
fish, I must check this out. My guess is this was what was happening.




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