Journal of a Sabbatical

December 13, 1998

the day after

There's usually strict segregation between the local anseriformes and the wild ones at the cove. The wild, migratory Canada geese will not go near the 6 tame ones, nor will other ducks mix with the resident mallards. And as far as I know, there are no wild migratory wintering swans - all the swans are resident year round. I was very surprised to see these two canvasbacks in with the mallards, swans, and Canada geese who were flocking around the breaders. They didn't come up on shore and beg for bread or anything, but they were close enough for me to get a picture. The canvasbacks do mix with wigeons, who frequently steal their food, and with the other diving ducks to certain extent. Wigeons seem predisposed to follow other ducks around. I've seen them follow a small flock of hooded mergansers, as well as the canvasbacks.

An Iceland gull had been sighted at the cove a couple weeks ago and I missed it. After a somewhat sleepless night, either from the extremely rich raspberry chocolate truffle hot fudge sundae or from the sheer joy of listening to a hundred tubas playing Christmas music, I was too tired to scan every gull for any rarities. If it, or any other visitor from afar, was there I didn't see it.

Nancy slept even less than I did last night 'cause something she ate didn't agree with her. So she was even tireder than I was. She sat in the car reading Summer at Little Lava, which I had just bought this morning at the Brown Bookstore. I keep vowing I am never ever going to buy any more books, but then I succumb immediately when I find something that interests me. I am so behind in the course of reading I've set for myself that I'll still be reading when all the lights go out on New Year's Eve 2000.

We drove around East Providence checking every street that went toward the bay for houses for sale and ways to get to the bike path without starting at the beginning. I wanted to see if the wigeons were in the two small coves just south of Watchemocket Cove. They were. Hundreds of them. Hooded mergansers too. And Canada geese. By that time it was pretty dark both because it was heavily overcast and because it was getting late. We continued checking out every dead end off Bullock's Point Ave until we came to the parrot neighborhood. Now that the trees are bare, it's a lot easier to see the parrots. As always, we heard them squawking before we saw them. There were about ten of them in the general area of this feeder.