On the Wing #56: Hager Sprigs
The name "Sprig" is an old hunters name for the Northern Pintail ( Anas acuta ), a slim duck with a handsome chocolate brown head, white lined neck, and gray body along with a long tail that gives it its namesake. The females are delicately patterned when compared to female Mallards ( A. platyrhynchos ) and are slightly smaller with a gray bill and the same pointed tail. They were congregating (about 9 birds altogether) on Hager Pond in Marlboro where they not only spend a good part of some winters and migration season, but it was also here that I saw my first Pintail as a young birder. While feeding the ducks after brunch one Sunday, I looked through my trusty Bushnell's to see a female Pintail congregating with the resident Mallards and Canada Geese ( Branta canadensis ). It didn't beg for food like the others, but still stayed close enough to the shore for me to get a good look at her. Picking away at ice and snow. Looking for bread maybe? Wai...