A Sea Duck That Likes to Golf

Long-tailed Duck, Biltmore Forest, NC.

I have chased several Long-tailed Ducks in the past year in California and dipped on every single one, mostly because I did not have a scope or a ton of time to scan the choppy pacific ocean for this interestingly patterned sea duck. I did not expect to get my life Long-tailed Duck in a tiny pond on a golf course in the mountains of North Carolina. Definitely not.

I saw on the carolinabirds listserv that there was a sighting just 20 minutes away from my house, so I swung by today and immediately lost my breath. Long-tailed ducks are gorgeous. I was also pleased that all of the four other birders photographing the duck were women! That is most definitely the first time I have come across that phenomenon while chasing a rarity. Usually I am the only lady there (as well as the only young'un, but apparently only about 6% of birders are under the age of 25). Anyway, I watched the duck for a long time as the sun began to drop behind a large weeping willow that shaded the pond. The bird dove and dove and dove, usually coming up with a bill covered in green slimy mud. I used my stopwatch to count how long it stayed underwater--consistently 21-23 seconds, and it stayed above water for about 7 seconds each time before diving again. It almost felt like a rhythmic dance. I looked it up when I got home and it said that Long-tailed Ducks usually spend about three times as much time underwater than above water...well, what do you know? Seven times three equals twenty-one. How cool is that? Animal behavior is incredibly interesting. That is one of my several very cool classes this semester, and I am loving it so far.

The following four shots are a little taste of what I spent about thirty minutes watching, smiling each time:

 

And some artsy shots:

Snow Birds

It snowed almost 8 inches last week and the bitter cold seeped into every inch of exposed skin (there wasn't much exposed, that's for sure). This week I was overheating wearing just a long-sleeved shirt and enjoying doing homework while sitting on my roof in shorts. I'm a little confused...is it winter in the Northeast? Late summer on the Northern California coast? It sure doesn't feel like the mountains of Western North Carolina, yet here I am.

Here are some photos of recent birds and snow days (three days off school in a row, the first time Warren Wilson has canceled class due to weather in well over a decade, maybe ever!).

First Northern Cardinal photo of the year. One of my goals of 2014 is to mega-crush a NOCA. This is not a mega-crush, though it was taken in my backyard, and is one of a very active pair, which means they are going to be hanging around right here for awhile, let's hope they nest in my bushes!

First Northern Cardinal photo of the year. One of my goals of 2014 is to mega-crush a NOCA. This is not a mega-crush, though it was taken in my backyard, and is one of a very active pair, which means they are going to be hanging around right here for awhile, let's hope they nest in my bushes!

Carolina Chickadee at my good friend Madalyn's farm in Prospect Hill, NC, up near the Virginia border.

Snowy morning on the porch.

That's quite a bit of build up!

Cold-footed Killdeer.

Blank canvas with Killdeer.