photo by Greg Hofmann

3/22/2004: Among the ducks, Bufflheads (Bucephala albeola) seem to be among the most sensitive and skittish. As soon as they see you they start swimming away, and if you show them concentrated attention, you'll soon see them running across the water and taking to the air. This kind of prolonged takeoff is a characteristic of diving birds – cormorants, grebes, diving ducks – because diving birds tend to have smaller wings (because wings are buoyant) than the dabbling ducks).