Hello,

I went out late Saturday afternoon to do my GBBC birding.  I went to a local
walking trail that has a couple of ponds nearby.  On the first pond
(probably a couple acres surface area), which normally has only Mallards and
sometimes Canada Geese (there are houses all around half of its perimeter),
there were about 120 Mallards swarming around a small opening of unfrozen
water about the size of your living room in near the middle of the frozen
pond.  That would've been cool enough, but it was made 10 times cooler by
the unexpected presence of 5 male Canvasbacks, 3 male Redheads, a single
female Common Goldeneye (she might have been married, actually, but I
couldn't tell...her husband definitely was not around!  :)), and 4 Black
Ducks, all vying for a piece of the open water.  Actually, the "lowly"
Mallards never contested the presence of the "stately" Canvasbacks and
"distinguished" Redheads.  The female Goldeneye just seemed embarrassed to
be in such motly company!    She acted like a rich lady forced by necessity
to shop at a thrift store, always looking around to see who was watching.
Altogether, it was quite a sight.  It seemed like the only way that water
could've remained unfrozed was by the sheer numbers of Mallards who use
it--maybe by their constant swimming and sitting in that water (literally
PACKED with duck bodies) they manage to keep it from freezing.  Has anyone
observed anything like this before and know how to explain it?  I was able
to watch the Redheads and Goldeneye diving for food, so hopefully there is
something under there to sate their appetites.  Among the other birds I saw
were nothing unusual, just a TON of cardinals, a few Tree Sparrows, a bunch
of juncos, and I did have one Common Grackle fly over.  For those who live
in the area and might want to check out the pond, it is along walking trail
adjacent to the intersection of Steffi Dr. and Valencia Park Blvd.  The
walking trail belongs to the residents of the large Hilliard Village and
Hilliard Commons developments, but the pond is on a piece of adjacent
property (to the north) that seems like a public area. It's gotta be a
stormwater overflow containment pond or something, it's definitely
man-made.

Nate Nye
Hilliard, OH

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