{"id":6603,"date":"2017-12-24T16:51:35","date_gmt":"2017-12-25T00:51:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/larryeifert.com\/?page_id=6603"},"modified":"2017-12-24T17:02:55","modified_gmt":"2017-12-25T01:02:55","slug":"2012-01","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/larryeifert.com\/wordpress\/published-writings-and-art\/salish-sea-stories-48-north-magazine\/2012-01\/","title":{"rendered":"2012 \u2013 12 Harlequin Ducks Return"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/larryeifert.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/2012-12-Harlequins.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6714\" src=\"http:\/\/larryeifert.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/2012-12-Harlequins.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"983\" height=\"864\" srcset=\"https:\/\/larryeifert.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/2012-12-Harlequins.jpg 983w, https:\/\/larryeifert.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/2012-12-Harlequins-300x264.jpg 300w, https:\/\/larryeifert.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/2012-12-Harlequins-768x675.jpg 768w, https:\/\/larryeifert.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/2012-12-Harlequins-560x492.jpg 560w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 983px) 100vw, 983px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Harlequin ducks spend their summers along our mountain rivers. I\u2019ve seen them there, diving straight into rapids where they search for small insects. These birds have dense feathers that trap a layer of insulating air &#8211; just like a down coat. This helps warm their small bodies against icy waters, an important adaption for a 15\u201d bird. By facing the current with wings spread, they can actually walk underwater as they forage. In fall, harlequins migrate down slope to salt water where they spend the winter fishing for mollusks and crustaceans in waters that are actually warmer than their summer swimming holes.<\/p>\n<p>So what\u2019s with the name? I\u2019ve read that harlequins were called after a colorfully dressed French character in the Commedia dell\u2019arte, and their scientific name, Histrionicus histrionicus means there\u2019s only one species of this beautiful duck, and \u2018histrio\u2019 means \u2018actor\u2019. I\u2019ve heard them also referred to as Lords-and-ladies, painted duck, sea mouse (because they squeak) and totem pole diver. Whatever you might call them, these are by far the most colorful sea ducks we have in winter on the Salish Sea, and they brighten up any gray day. Look for them on jetty rocks or log booms until spring.<\/p>\n<p>Larry paints and blogs about wild places at larryeifert.com. His work can be seen in many national parks across America.<\/p>\n<p>***previous*** &#8212; ***next***<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Harlequin ducks spend their summers along our mountain rivers. I\u2019ve seen them there, diving straight into rapids where they search for small insects. These birds have dense feathers that trap a layer of insulating air &#8211; just like a down coat. This helps warm their small bodies against icy waters, an important adaption for a &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/larryeifert.com\/wordpress\/published-writings-and-art\/salish-sea-stories-48-north-magazine\/2012-01\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">2012 \u2013 12 Harlequin Ducks Return<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":6453,"menu_order":114,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6603","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/larryeifert.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/larryeifert.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/larryeifert.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/larryeifert.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/larryeifert.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6603"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/larryeifert.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6603\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6722,"href":"https:\/\/larryeifert.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6603\/revisions\/6722"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/larryeifert.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/larryeifert.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}