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: