river talk

Lackawaxen flying critters

By SCOTT RANDO

Posted 3/5/24

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river talk

Lackawaxen flying critters

RR photos by Scott Rando

Mallards are common year-round in the area, and the water flowing from the Lackawaxen into the Delaware River provides an ice-free area for them to feed over the winter. This species is a dabbling duck; it feeds by ducking its head into shallow water to feed on aquatic vegetation. Pictured here are four mallards, with the two more-colorful males to the left and two females paddling behind to the right.

RR photos by Scott Rando

This is a male common merganser flying over the Delaware River towards the confluence. Normally, you can’t see the top, or dorsal, side of a merganser, as it is usually higher than you and the birds tend to fly in a straight line. This one, however, banked left as it was flying, in order to land in the Lackawaxen River just upstream of the confluence. This shot gives us a view of the intricate black-and-white wing and back pattern of a male common merganser.

RR photos by Scott Rando

While I was looking for birds, an insect landed on my camera tripod, and I was able to photograph it before it flew off. This appears to be a brown stonefly. It's typical that the hatches start in late February on sunny, mild days and continue through March There are many fly patterns for stoneflies available in tackle shops, and fly-tiers have their own variations...Finding this species says a lot about the water quality of the water in the upper Delaware; the nymph of this species require clean, oxygenated water to survive.

Posted Tuesday, March 5, 2024 11:02 pm

By SCOTT RANDO

Lackawaxen is well known as a good winter eagle-viewing spot. The boat launch is a good location, and there are various places along the Tow Path Road where eagles can be seen. When there is a water release from Lackawaxen, many eagles can be found in the area feeding on dead or stunned fish that got swept through the water turbines that power the generators.

Aside from eagles, there are many other flying things to see there. Hawks abound in the area; sharp-shinned and Cooper’s hawks are frequently seen, with red-tailed hawks being the most abundant. There are abundant waterfowl in the river there, too. I’ve counted 10 species of waterfowl at Lackawaxen and have likely missed a few when they passed through.

Waterfowl can be seen year-round, with different species spotted at different times of the year. Spring and fall migration times are good times to see some uncommon waterfowl in our area.

It was relatively mild on the afternoon of the 21st of February: sunny, a light wind and a temperature in the low 40s when I went to visit the confluence of the Delaware and Lackawaxen Rivers. Over a three-hour period, I saw a few eagles, but I also saw some other interesting species of things that fly. The images in this week’s column are a few things I spotted during that afternoon.