Saturday, January 29, 2011 - Bosque Birdwatchers RV Park, San Antonio NM
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American Wigeon, Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, San Antonio NM, January 24, 2011
Glad to meet ya
I don't think I had ever heard of the American Wigeon until I started identifying the birds from my morning taking pictures at the Bosque last Monday.
A common and increasingly abundant duck, the American Wigeon breeds in northwestern North America and is found throughout the rest of the continent in migration and in winter. Its small bill and the male's white forehead, as well as certain aspects of nesting and feeding behavior, distinguish this species from other dabbling ducks.
Cool Facts
- The American Wigeon was formerly known as "Baldpate" because the white stripe resembled a bald man's head.
- The American Wigeon is a rare, but regular straggler to Europe where it turns up in flocks of Eurasian Wigeon.
- The American Wigeon's short bill enables it to exert more force at the bill tip than other dabbling ducks, thus permitting efficient dislodging and plucking of vegetation.
- The America Wigeon is the dabbling duck most likely to leave water and graze on vegetation in fields. However, feeding in fields on grain, such as corn, is rather rare.
- The American Wigeon's diet has a higher proportion of plant matter than the diet of any other dabbling duck.
Source: American Wigeon, Life History, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Night camp
Site 10 - Bosque Bird Watcher's RV Park, San Antonio NM
- This is a basic, small Mom & Pop RV Park with full hookups.
- Verizon cell phone and Broadband service are available here with a strong signal.
- Locate Bosque Bird Watcher's RV Park on my Night Camps map
- Click for Google street view
- Check the weather in San Antonio NM
Give it, Give it All, Give it Now
One of the few things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now. The impulse to save something good for a better place later is the signal to spend it now. Something more will arise for later, something better. These things fill from behind, from beneath, like well water. Similarly, the impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.