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Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)

Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula)

I’m not going to lie. I’m incredibly excited by all the signs of spring I’ve been coming across lately. But I’m also trying to take in as much as I can of some of our winter visitors, like this Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula), before they migrate back north to their breeding grounds in the boreal forests of Canada and Alaska. During the winter, Common Goldeneyes frequent shallow coastal bays, estuaries, harbors and ponds around Cape Cod, and throughout much of…

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Ring-necked duck (Aythya collaris)

Ring-necked duck (Aythya collaris)

Males are distinctly marked with a black head, neck, chest and back, and a clear white and gray patch on their sides. Despite their name, however, the ring-necked duck’s most visibly distinctive “ring” is a white ring around an otherwise dark gray and black bill. While I personally would have named this bird a “ring-billed duck”, its common name, as well as its scientific name “collaris,” actually refer to the difficult to see dark chestnut-colored collar on its black neck….

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