Peace Country Sun — Now that the sloughs are open and the lakes are breaking up, ducks are in evidence everywhere. This is a great group of birds to learn to identify because there aren’t too many species and the males are bright and distinctive. There are also lots of great places in this region to try your hand at duck watching.

Ducks can be divided into two basic groups. Puddle ducks like shallow ponds and ditches, are able to fly straight up off the water, and feed by tipping their heads down and their bottoms up. In contrast, diving ducks frequent deeper lakes, run across the surface to take off, and dive in search of dinner.

Most of the ducks we see at this time of year will stay to nest but some, like the northern pintail, are headed further north. You will often see enormous flocks of pintails in flooded fields fueling up before they move on.

Our most common puddle ducks are mallards, shovelers, widgeon and the smaller green and blue-winged teal.You will find them on most sloughs and around the edges of larger lakes.These birds usually nest in upland meadows and then walk the ducklings to the nearest water.

On deep water ponds and lakes look for canvasbacks, redheads, goldeneye, bufflehead and scaup. It is often hard to keep an eye on these divers as they spend a lot of time popping beneath the water. Amazingly enough, both goldeneye and bufflehead nest in old woodpecker holes in shoreline trees rather than on the ground.

Another delightful duck is the ruddy duck. These rusty red birds sport white cheek patches and a bright blue bill. The also have stiff tails which stick straight up. Watch for the males madly bobbing their heads as they try to attract mates.

There are all kinds of places in the Peace region to look for ducks but some sites have particularly good access to the water. In McLennan, a boardwalk has been built along Kimiwan Lake to allow for great waterfowl viewing. Winagami and Saskatoon Island Provincial Parks also have viewing platforms as well as good access to the lakeshore.

Other excellent locations include Lac Cardinal and Sturgeon, George and Machesis lakes. These, as well as a number of smaller lakes in the region, are easily accessed through local provincial parks or recreation areas. Further north, Hay-Zama Wildland Park is internationally recognized as a waterfowl nesting and staging area, though access is limited.

Ducks bring spring wetlands to life. They are fun to watch and their colours seem all the more vibrant against the still brown cattails. If you listen carefully, you can even distinguish different ducks by the sounds they make. Only mallards make that classic quack.