Small flocks of little Bufflehead Ducks are now visiting Great Cove, flying here and there at high speeds. Buffleheads (Bucephala albeola), seldom reach 15 inches in length, which makes them the smallest diving ducks in North America. Their top flying speed has been clocked at a blurring 48 miles per hour.
The males are mostly white with a black head on which it looks like a double scoop of vanilla ice cream has been dropped.The females are darker overall with a dab of that ice cream on their cheeks. They get their strange name from the swell-headed males, which reminded the name-givers of American “Buffalos”.
Buffleheads eat crabs, clams, and water vegetation in winter and (unusually) nest in abandoned cavities of large woodpeckers. (Brooklin, Maine; Leighton Archive images used)