Long-tailed Ducks

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barnegat lighthouse, barnegat lighthouse state park, long-tailed duck, postaday

Last Monday I went to Barnegat Lighthouse State Park to photograph Long-tailed Ducks. There were two large groups of these ducks swimming in the ocean near the lighthouse. Estimates ranged from 100 to 300 ducks.

Despite their names, only mature male ducks have a very long tail curved at their backs. Female and immature male ducks do not have it.

Long-tailed Ducks: two males with long tails, and three females.

They are very good divers and are capable of foraging under water at depths up to 200 ft (61 m) to look for food, mainly invertebrates plucked from the bottom.

Long-tailed Ducks, with splashes showing those that have already dived into the ocean.

Long-tailed Ducks landing.

Long-tailed Ducks.

Two female Long-tailed Ducks.

Long-tailed Ducks, female on left, male on right.

Wings

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great egret, herring gull, long-tailed duck, monarch butterfly, Northern Shoveler, photography, postaday

I took the photos below at different times of this year, from January 1st on.

Herring Gull.

Long-tailed Duck.

Great Egret.

Northern Shovelers.

Monarch Butterfly.

Long-tailed Ducks

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barnegat lighthouse, barnegat lighthouse state park, long-tailed duck, photography, postaday

Long-tailed Ducks also breed in the Artic Coasts and winter in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic coast, although New Jersey, Delaware, and parts of Maryland are as far South as they will go. There were many of them yesterday near Barnegat Lighthouse. They swam back and forth during the time I spent there, providing many opportunities for photographs.

Male Long-tailed Duck near Barnegat Lighthouse.

Female Long-tailed Duck near Barnegat Lighthouse.

Female and male Long-tailed Ducks near Barnegat Lighthouse.

Just before I left, a male Long-tailed Duck flew around several times, at least three, calling out constantly, perhaps reminding all the other ducks that migration time was fast approaching. It was quite a show and a photographer’s dream.

Male Long-tailed Duck flying and calling near Barnegat Lighthouse.

Male Long-tailed Duck flying and calling near Barnegat Lighthouse.

Male Long-tailed Duck flying and calling near Barnegat Lighthouse.

Male Long-tailed Duck flying and calling near Barnegat Lighthouse.

Silent Sunday: Long-tailed Ducks et al.

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barnegat lighthouse state park, brant, canada geese, colonial lake, great black-backed gull, long-tailed duck, photography, postaday, ring-billed gull

Male Long-tailed Duck.

Male Long-tailed Duck.

Male Long-tailed Duck.

Great Black-backed Gull.

Brants.

Canada Geese.

Ring-billed Gull.

Ring-billed Gull.

Long-tailed Duck

Tags

barnegat lighthouse, long-tailed duck, photography, postaday

Long-tailed Ducks breed in the Arctic parts of Canada and Alaska, and only migrate to the coast of New Jersey in the winter. Thursday of this week, I saw several near Barnegat Lighthouse.

Female Long-tailed Duck. Only the males have a long tail.

I could not photograph a male Long-tailed Duck swimming in the water, so here’s a photo of two males taken in 2016.

Male Long-tailed Ducks, immature in background and mature at center.

This past Thursday, there was a male that took off from the water as shown in the following flight shots.

Male Long-tailed Duck taking off.

Male Long-tailed Duck taking off. Noe the long tail in the back.

Male Long-tailed Duck taking off.

Male Long-tailed Duck flying.

These ducks are about half the size of Common Eiders, and their take off is shorter and quicker. Although there are no estimates of their current population, they are classified as Common Bird in Steep Decline as of 2014.

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

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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.

Long-tailed Duck

Tags

barnegat lighthouse, long-tailed duck, photography, postaday

On the inland side of Barnegat Lighthouse some thirty Long-tailed Ducks were foraging for food. They are the same size as the nearby Harlequin Ducks. They swam back and forth, diving frequently for what seemed like a long time. They are reputed to be capable of reaching depths up to 200 ft (60 m). They live near the Artic and winter on the East Coast. Only the males have the distinctive long black tail that curves upward.

Male Long-tailed Ducks.

A pair of Long-tailed Ducks. Female is on the right.

Immature male Long-tailed Duck.

Male Long-tailed Ducks.

Male Long-tailed Duck, immature male on the left.

Harbor Seal

Tags

black scoters, harbor seal, long-tailed duck, photography, postaday

Several hundreds ducks of all kinds were floating on the ocean, maybe 50 to 100 yards or so from where I was standing on the beach. There were Common Eiders, the largest duck North of the equator, Black Scoters, Long-tailed Ducks, and others I could not identify. They all seemed to be drifting further and further away from the shore. At first they swam North, then after a while reversed direction and went South.

Suddenly one Long-tailed Duck treaded water then took off.

Long-tailed Duck taking off.

Then the Black Scoters noisily left the scene.

Black Scoters fleeing the scene.

I saw the head of a Harbor Seal among the waves. They usually go after fish but are also known to have a penchant for killing and eating ducks. That’s why the ducks I saw were giving him a respectful and wide berth.

Harbor Seal.

He swam toward me! Hmmm …

Harbor Seal.

Then he changed his mind, dove into the water and went after the ducks. The Black Scoters kept flying up, one flock after another.

Black Scoters continuing to flee.

Soon more than half of the ducks were gone. I no longer saw the seal, but he was probably still there lurking underwater.

A Surfer

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Holgate, long-tailed duck, photyography, postaday

Last Friday, while walking back from the tip of the island at Holgate, I saw that the ocean waves were fairly high, and once in a while I heard the sound of clapping thunder as they crashed violently against the shore. However, one surfer braved it all and seemed to enjoy herself.

Long-tailed Duck surfing at Holgate.

She was engulfed by the waves several times, but persisted and rode the waves fearlessly. She was definitely the bravest among other surfing ducks that day. In the following photo, a wave was about to crash and I clicked the shutter just after several ducks dove in. Long-tailed ducks are known for their diving prowess, able to go as deep as 200 ft (60 m) to look for food.

Crashing surf: there are some ducks in there.

This is what our female surfer looked like after a wave had gone past her.

Female Long-tailed Duck after wave had gone beyond her

Finally, here’s a shot of the wave crashing against the beach.

Long-tailed Ducks beyond crashing wave.

By the way, before starting my hike, I saw some human surfers at the parking lot, clad in their wetsuits. They had decided not to attempt surfing that day and were getting into their cars to drive out of the area.