Waterfowl watching is a delight in morning

Georgia’s winters are just ducky — the best time of the year to see a variety of ducks on Georgia’s rivers, lakes and other waterways.

Accordingly, my birding friends Liz Horsey and Gail Russell and I spent a morning last weekend watching the antics of several duck species on the ponds at the E.L. Huie land application facility in Clayton County — one of metro Atlanta‘s premier waterfowl-watching spots. Both dabbling and diving ducks — Georgia’s two main types of ducks — were feeding there.

The dabbling ducks prefer shallow water and tip up — or dabble — to feed with only their tails visible in the water. Among the dabblers that we saw were mallards, northern shovelers, gadwalls, northern pintails and green-winged teals. The shovelers also displayed another interesting feeding habit — several of them swam close together in a tight circle to create a whirlpool and bring food to the surface.

The diving ducks prefer deeper, more open water and may dive to several feet for their food. Among those that we saw were ring-necked ducks (Georgia’s most common diving duck), hooded mergansers, ruddy ducks and buffleheads. The little buffleheads stayed underwater for nearly a minute and then popped back up a long way from where they disappeared. Some buffleheads, though, remained on the surface, perhaps “lookouts” that watch for possible danger to their group.

Altogether, some 25 duck species migrate to Georgia and other Southern states for the winter. They will be gone by spring, when they return to their northern breeding grounds — primarily the “Prairie Pothole” region of the upper U.S. Midwest and the southern, middle and upper parts of Canada.

Georgia’s notable exceptions to this pattern are mallards and wood ducks, year-round residents and the only two duck species that breed in the state. The wood duck is Georgia’s most common duck, which is lucky for us because the multicolored male “woodie” is considered America’s most beautiful duck.

In the sky: The winter solstice, winter’s official start, arrives at 6:12 a.m. on Dec. 21 — the shortest day of the year.

The Ursid meteor shower reaches a peak of 15 meteors per hour on Dec. 20. Look to the east from about midnight until dawn, said David Dundee, Tellus Science Museum astronomer.

The moon will be in its first quarter on Dec. 20. Mercury is low in the east just before sunrise. Venus rises in the east about two hours before sunrise. Mars is low in the southwest just after dark and sets in the west a few hours later; it will appear near the moon tonight. Jupiter rises out of the east around midnight. Saturn rises in the east about three hours before sunrise.

U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE Bufflehead ducks like this one are diving ducks, able to stay underwater for more than a minute searching for food.