A group that set out Saturday morning from Coogan Farm in Mystic in search of ducks spending the winter along the Connecticut coastline didn’t have to go far before spotting them.

The tour group, while driving on Route 1A on the way to the Stonington Town Dock, saw ducks swimming in Lambert’s Cove.

Nicole Neigel, an educator at the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center who was leading the tour, took out binoculars and identified the ducks as red-breasted mergansers and hooded mergansers.

The ducks are among those from northern climates, where much of the water freezes in the wintertime, that are living on the Connecticut coast for the season.

“Connecticut receives up to 25-30 species of ducks in the winter that aren’t here the rest of the year,” including scoters, eiders and mergansers, said Neigel. She said the presence of many birds from Canada and the northern United States is pretty exciting, especially since many of Connecticut’s birds leave for the winter.

The Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center organizes the tour for people to look for waterfowl in the Mystic, Stonington and Groton area. The group spotted common, hooded and red-breasted mergansers, the common eider, a long-tailed duck, and a black scoter, as well as red-throated and common loons, among other birds.

At the Stonington Town Dock, the group peered through binoculars to see a variety of waterfowl ― and a seal.

At Beebe Pond in Groton, Neigel excitedly pointed out to the group a golden-crowned kinglet, a bird that is only in the area for the winter and is the second-smallest bird in Connecticut, after the hummingbird. The golden-crowned kinglet was on a branch of a small tree near the edge of the pond.

“I just think they’re so cute,” Neigel said.

The group was excited to spot a pair of hooded merganser ducks serenely swimming in the pond near reeds.

“There goes the kingfisher!” said Neigel, as the group watched as a belted kingfisher bird flew in the air above the pond.

Lynn Schroder of Mystic said she sees merganser ducks frequently diving below the surface of the Mystic River, and it was a thrill to see the pair of ducks so still that she could see their plumage. She said she also enjoyed the hijinks of the kingfisher and to see for the first time a golden-crowned kinglet.

Diana Bortolin of Mystic, who volunteers at Mystic Aquarium, said she also would like to participate in more activities through the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center to learn more about animals.

Bortolin, who described herself as a neophyte when it comes to birds, said it was really cool to learn about all the different species of birds and Neigel was giving all kinds of information about them.

Kim Hargrave, education director at the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center, said that while the tour didn’t see a large quantity of birds, they did see a lot of different species.

Hargrave said she loves doing duck tours, because ducks tend to be an easy bird for people to spot, as opposed to song birds that flit in and out, so the tours are a great way to introduce people to some incredible species.

The birds start to head back north by March or so, depending on the species, Hargrave said. Late December through February is the peak time to find them in the area.

“I just think it’s amazing because most of these birds you're seeing here now, we will not see during the summer,” Hargrave said.

k.drelich@theday.com