Crab Cake

Tags

barnegat lighthouse, common loon, crab, photography, postaday

A few days ago, while I was photographing Long-tailed Ducks, there were two or three Common Loons swimming around the same area.

Common Loon swimming near Barnegat Lighthouse.

At one point, I heard a big crunching noise. Turning toward the source of the noise, I saw a Common Loon eating part of a crab that it had caught and broken apart.

Common Loon eating crab.

It practically swallowed that part, then dipped into the water and brought up several more parts to eat.

Common Loon eating crab.

Common Loon eating crab.

Common Loon eating crab.

Common Loon eating crab.

Common Loon eating crab.

After finishing the crab, it took a drink of water and tilted its head up to swallow it and perhaps the mashed up crab also.

Common Loon swallowing.

Loon, Long-Tailed Duck, Red-Breasted Mergansers, Mallards

Tags

barnegat lighthouse, common loon, long-tailed duck, mallard, photograpy, postaday, red-breasted merganser

A week ago at the Barnegat Lighthouse, many people came to walk along the beach, as it was sunny and the wind was bearable, especially if one wore a good winter jacket or coat.

Barnegat Lighthouse on January 1st, 2017.

Along the jetty, but away from the swift currents that Harlequin ducks preferred, there were three other kinds of ducks or waterbirds swimming and diving calmly for food.

Common Loon, a large waterbird in its non-breeding colors.

Long-tailed Duck. This kind of duck can deep dive up to 200 ft (60 m). This one was just looking around and enjoying the sun.

Red-breasted Mergansers, a rather large duck compared to the well-coiffed Hooded Mergansers that I photographed last year.

Earlier in the day, I saw a pair of Mallards dabbling for food at Edwin B Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge which has been practically closed due to road repairs for at least half a year now.

A pair of Mallards. They don’t dive and just dabble for food near the surface of the water.