Lucky Duck

     It was a good weekend to rack up waterfowl. The temperatures on Friday made it into the 60's, and then by Saturday night, dropped back into the teens, and stayed there. I hate the cold, but I won't let it get in my way-- plus they say exposure to lower temperatures for a prolonged time helps with how we metabolize fat-- so the cold can't be all that bad...
     On Saturday, I headed out to Baisley Pond Park in Queens with my good friend Jeffrey and Christine. We got some great birds for our year and life lists.
     Today, I headed out to Point Lookout in Nassau County for the first time ever, wow, it's totally a place I want to visit once again...
     In the end, I am up to 63 species for the year, adding two life birds to my list over the last two days.

Super windy and cold... and white birds in bright light makes for alright photos. Ross' goose with Canada geese.

Smaller than a snow goose, with a much more stubby bill.

But, like all geese- has a taste for all things grass.

This pond was full of ring neck ducks-- so many of them all at once!
I counted at least 20. And got flagged for it on eBird.

Also, tons of redheads! Also got flagged for reporting 30 of them.

A welcome surprise, a bald eagle- way up high. The group of gulls on the pond alerted us by all taking flight at once. This eagle was barely visible to the naked eye.
But, this eagle must be a frequent visitor as I stopped by today and watched it swoop in at eye level making all the gulls and geese take flight all at once. It was pretty awesome.

Jeffrey and I headed back to Brooklyn and birded by car in Floyd Bennett Field. The most exciting thing we saw was this female lesser scaup getting attacked by a greater black-backed gull. Who dropped on it,  pushing it underwater- then grabbing it with its bill by the head, trying to pick it up.
It was pretty brutal looking, but she lucked out in finding a small covered area under the pilings to hide under...

The gull was persistent though, circling the area. I suppose when you are hungry and desperate.

Today, at Point Lookout, I saw some amazing birds- but the first obstacle was parking. It's very limited here. I found a 2 hour spot near the main drag then walked the desolate street down to the beach opening on Ocean Blvd.

The harlequin ducks alone are worth the trip here, holy cow, they are handsome birds.

Both look good for greater scaup!

Male and female harlequin ducks.

These birds love to swim and feed in the waves where they crash into the rocks... where the mussels are growing on the rocks in large numbers.

All these ducks, the harlequins, scaup, eiders, and long-tailed ducks-- they are all divers. It's very common to see them one moment and the next, they disappear below the surf.

All the while I observed these ducks, gun shots rang out, loudly in the background as the water closer to the marsh is open for hunting. 

The long-tailed ducks are some of my favorites. They were diving, flying, and vocalizing with their funny little call. 

Long-tailed ducks, despite their plucky little size, can dive up to depths of 200 feet. Bad Ass.

Added bonus, seeing 4 Bonaparte's Gulls!

Smaller than all the other gulls, they were swimming in the surf closest to shore. The best part was when a big wave would hit- sometimes they'd be able to ride it out. Or if their timing was poor, they'd have to take flight and expose the bright orange feet.

When a big wave hit the ducks, like this long-tail, they'd just dive in.

A surf scoter, one of two scoter I saw (the other, a black scoter). Scoter, also a diving duck.

And then... Among the common eiders...

A king eider!
A much more fancy bill, grey behind the head, makes them much more different than the common males (mature birds are white with the green bills) and females (the chocolate brown birds).

He was quite far (at the end of the Jetty) with this group-- and it was cloudy, so taking clear pictures, pretty hard. So, truly, I'd love to visit here on a less grey afternoon.

Before leaving, I watched another gull-duck encounter. This time, a smaller ring-billed gull challenged a smaller bufflehead. But only after its small, mollusk meal. 

I kid you not when I say, I out loud cheered this Bufflehead on, who I am fairly sure made it off with its prize.

I got there at just the right time- at arriving, I was watching these ducks happily feed. By time I left, everyone was getting in place for their afternoon siesta. It was such a privilege to view all these birds this weekend, all of them super impressive and braving the cold like they are from the Arctic or something...