THE BIRDS OF BUFFLEHEAD POND FARM

by Adelia Ritchie, Winter 2019

Painting by Adelia Ritchie

THE BIRDS OF BUFFLEHEAD POND FARM

by Adelia Ritchie, Winter 2019

Such big ideas we had when we first set out to inhabit Bufflehead Pond Farm! The place had not been properly tended for years and the local ecology (mostly blackberries and stinging nettles) had taken control of the landscape. Being human and with engineering and military backgrounds, both of us had compelling urges to clean up, organize, remove deadfall and ugly trees, spray weed killer everywhere, hack, chop, and rototill. Cleaned up, cleared, organized, easy to manage was our goal. But what unfolded from there is the story about how we discovered our new farm family and their relationships to each other and to all the things that grow in and around the pond.

The pond, named for its winter bufflehead ducks and its summertime mallards and wood ducks, was one of the biggest offenders initially. If only we could clear out those tall reeds that threaten to choke the pond, and those nasty lily pads that seem to be spreading! OUT with them! Oh, and that huge weedy tree at the edge of the pond that blocks our long view of the stables and beyond. Chop it down!

Fortunately for us former city slickers, we took the time to observe and learn. We can keep an eye on the pond from every room in the house, and we keep the binoculars and the bird identification books handy at all times, just for this purpose. After a time, we began to learn the habits and personalities of our pond birds and started to give them names.

Click on any of the small photos below to see a gallery of larger versions. Photos by Lee Tenneboe.

Bufflehead

Mallards

Wood ducks

Photos by John F. Williams

First, I‘d like to introduce the two major players on the stage of Bufflehead Pond, primarily the bufflehead ducks. We love these little fellows for their happy diving ways, their sweet dispositions, and (let’s face it) they are just too darned cute for words.

“Mr. Buffle” is the main character on the winter pond and he arrives each year in mid-November. He believes this is his pond, and although he’s quite agreeable about sharing it with other bufflehead ducks and the occasional mallard visitor, there was no question in any of their minds about who was boss. To indicate his ownership, he positions himself in the exact center of the pond and grooms himself, a very ostentatious and commanding display. No one challenges him. Sadly, we never saw him with a female all last winter, except for a small flock of hooded mergansers (cousins of buffleheads), with whose females he flirted shamelessly, chasing them into the reeds for who knows what nefarious activities.

Photo by John F. Williams

Observing all this from his perch in the reed patch close to shore is the boldly colored red-winged blackbird, a dominant male who has been here the entire time we have—summer, fall, winter, and spring—watching, waiting, keeping an eye on things. Last fall, a large family (perhaps 25-30) of these birds gathered in the tall nesting reeds close to shore each morning for a group pep talk and gossip session, meeting there again each evening to share their full reports. They often congregated in the big ugly weedy-looking tree (the one we decided not to chop down) that grows on the edge of the pond close to the reeds. There were times when the noise from the Blackbird Happy Hour each day was deafening, but always happy-sounding. Last fall all of them disappeared on their winter migration, all except for the “Daddy Redwing,” who still hangs out in the reeds every day and keeps his eyes on all the activities in and around the pond. Where Mr. Buffle manages the water and the feeding grounds within, Mr. Redwing manages the space around and above the pond.