2022 11 08

Hooded Merganser at Milton Lake Park¶

2022-11-08

After eating way too much for breakfast, I felt like I needed to go for a walk. I decided to head over to Milton Lake Park and bring my camera since I had not gone birding there in a while. Milton Lake Park consists of a walking path that goes alongside the Hazel Wood Cemetery and Middlesex Reservoir which eventually becomes Milton Lake. The area is fairly secluded compared to the nearby Esposito Park but dense foliage makes birding difficult at times.

The walk at Milton started off pretty slow with few birds and not many photo opportunities. I was surprised to find that there were Tufted Titmice foraging on the ground here, I had never seen them in this area before. As I approached Milton Lake, I noticed something growing on the side of a tree. As I got closer, I realized it was some type of mushroom that looked kind of like a sea anemone's tendrils. I examined the mushroom for a bit and took some photos to ID it later (it turned out to be Lion's Mane, an edible mushroom!).

When I got to Milton Lake, I saw the usual Mallard Ducks and Canada Geese. As I started to turn around and head home, I noticed a duck close by that looked different. Before I could react, it saw me and flew away towards the other side of the lake but luckily not too far. I quickly grabbed my camera and took some photos. I immediately recognized the duck as a Hooded Merganser because just earlier in the day, I saw a post on Twitter about them being sighted at Central Park. Seeing one today was the last thing I expected! I love their crescent-shaped head and how funny they look when they are facing you. To my surprise, they were smaller than a Mallard Duck. I will definitely be visiting Milton Lake again to look for more species of duck!

Locations/Sightings¶

-> #location/MiltonLakePark-Clark-NJ