Northern Shovelers at the Cosumnes River Preserve

Some people, when they are on a long journey, will stop at rest stops or gas stations, or maybe fast food outlets. Mrs. Geotripper and I are not quite like that. When we were looking for our first rest stop on our holiday travels, we noticed a sign for the Cosumnes River Preserve north of Stockton in the Great Valley. That was therefore our first stop. The Cosumnes River is one of very few free-flowing rivers left in the Sierra Nevada, and a patchwork of government and private entities manage tens of thousands of acres of the river where it flows through the Great Valley. I described the nature of the river in my post on the Greater White-fronted Geese that we saw there.

We also saw a number of Northern Shovelers (Anas clypeata). They have unusually long beaks with serrated edges that allow them to strain food out of the water efficiently. They are abundant birds, with a range that extends from northernmost Alaska to the southernmost end of Central America (as well as much Europe and Asia). As is usual in duck world, the males are the colorful ones.

Northern Shovelers at the Merced National WIldlife Refuge

It's probably the fault of Walt Disney, or maybe Warner Brothers cartoons, but ducks are kind of comical. It could be their ungainly waddle when they are on land, or their odd shaped beaks. It could be the way many of them dabble for their food, putting their rumps high in the air. They always seem vaguely ridiculous. But as funny as they might seem, the ducks are keenly adapted to their environment. They may be ungainly on land, but they are superb swimmers. Their beaks may be oddly shaped, but they are ideal for getting the kinds of foods available in the watery environments where they live. Dabbling is a good strategy for food gathering in shallow water.

Truth be told, the dabbling ducks probably think humans are one of the strangest looking creatures in all of existence.

In any case, I found the pictures above particularly comical, seeing the look of the colorful male as kind of clueless while the female behind him seemed perfectly satisfied. I wonder what conversation just took place? Is there a caption we could add?

These beautiful ducks are called Northern Shovelers (Anas clypeata), and I see them quite often in the wetlands around our valley. I got these pictures today during our exploration of the Merced National Wildlife Refuge. The Snow and Ross's Geese are still there, as are the Sandhill Cranes, but they were gathered in the interior marshes at the refuge, leaving the pools along the auto-tour to the American Coots and the Shovelers.

The Northern Shoveler is one of the more common ducks, with a range that includes most of the northern hemisphere, though they are mainly found in North America, Europe, and India. Their population has remained stable while many other species have declined in abundance over the last half century.