12 Acres in Ohio
By Robin Arnold / Gena Husman
The Winter That wouldn’t Go Away/Redhead Ducks/The Broody Bunch
Although we hope it’s sunny and warm
as you read this, we’re not making any
commitments. This was “The Winter
that Wouldn’t Go Away.” If it sounds
like the title of a horror movie, it WAS
a horror story in many ways. It is the
middle of March as we are putting this
together. Two nights ago it was 4 below
zero and we had just gone through one
of the worst snowstorms we’ve had here
in many years. About 7-10 inches of
snow still blankets the ground and thick
ice covers rivers, lakes and our pond.
We’re expecting a massive fish kill this
spring when our pond finally thaws.
Looking back in our journal, the pond
and marsh were open last year at this
time and we had all kinds of ducks and
geese coming and going. But, this year
unless they’re wearing ice skates, we
won’t see any on our pond for some
time to come. Already many waterfowl
are here in northwest Ohio trying to find
open water.
Last spring one of our visitors was a
male redhead duck. He flew in with a
couple of other male redhead ducks and
landed on the pond. When our ducks
swam out to investigate the newcomers,
all of the redheads flew off except for
one. He ignored our ducks and proceeded to eat and bathe. Since it was a duck
GOLF SCRAMBLE
that neither of us had seen on the pond
before, Robin took the opportunity to
snap off a few photos.
ing male redheads and unsuccessful
females. These ducks travel to traditional “molting lakes.”
Redheads are medium-sized diving
ducks that resemble canvas back ducks
and may be mistaken for them if seen
from a distance. The male redhead has
a reddish head and neck with a black
breast and dark gray back. His rump
is black, his eye is golden and his bill
is blue with a black tip. The female is
brown overall with a reddish-brown
head, neck and breast, and a buff white
chin. Her bill is similar to the male’s
but not as brightly colored. Her eyes are
dark with an indistinct eye ring, and a
stripe behind the eye.
Fall migration begins in August and
continues through the early part of
December as the ducks head back south.
Redheads winter in the south with huge
flocks gathering in lagoons along the
Texas coast, and begin migrating northward from January through March.
Although they rarely nest in the western
Lake Erie marshes, redheads are very
common migrants statewide in Ohio.
They take new mates each year and
begin to form monogamous pairs in
late winter. By the time they reach their
primary breeding grounds in the northern prairie marshes in the United States
and Canada they are already paired
up. Although redheads build their own
nests, the female sometimes lays her
eggs in the nests of other ducks--especially canvas backs. While the female is
incubating her eggs, the male redhead
leaves her and travels further north to
begin a molt that will leave him unable
to fly for almost a month. According to
the Cornell “Birds of North America”
website, this is actually called a “molt
migration” and includes postbreed-
What do “Angry Birds” and “crabby
chickens” have in common? Or “The
Brady Bunch” and the “broody bunch?”
We don’t know either, but we have
2 very ill-tempered young hens who
refuse to leave their nest boxes. In
order to make sure they get out to eat
and drink we have to extricate them
kicking and screaming (them K[