Like what I do? Please consider faving and/or commenting this photo. Thank you! — 2024.12.21
Biodôme de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada by Tiphaine Rolland
© Tiphaine Rolland, all rights reserved.
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Like what I do? Please consider faving and/or commenting this photo. Thank you! — 2024.12.21
This bird drifted and dozed near the Lake Ontario shoreline in Prince Edward County, showing the incredibly variable plumage of the Long-tailed Duck. This female is likely older, five or six years, given the darker rufous tones. There is a lot written about their plumage, and the complexity of the analysis is at times a little advanced for me. I will attach a link below to the Ontario Birds article that was helpful (though it took a few runs at it).
In a nutshell: the females tend toward the rufous colouring as they pass through multiple seasons of definitive and alternative plumage (think breeding and non-breeding), typically arriving there is year six; but the plumage of females Long-tailed Ducks is incredibly variable.
I was lying in snow and ice on the shoreline, which meant a few typically skittish birds drifted by. Because this species is hunted pretty intensely on the Lake, their skittishness is perfectly reasonable.
www.ofo.ca/library/serve/ob-40-1/index.html?page=1
Clangula hyemalis
Norvège / Norway, Europe
Réalisé le 10 juin 2024 à l'entrée nord du parc Forillon, Cap-des-Rosiers, Gaspésie, Québec.
Cliquez sur l'image pour l'agrandir / click on the photograph to enlarge it.
Taken on June, 10th / 2024 at the Forillon Park 's north entrance, Parc-des-Rosiers, Gaspesia, Quebec.
Sääre - Saaremaa - Estonie 2024
Pato havelda / Long-tailed Duck
PN Forillon, Entrée Nord, 2024-06-10
PN Forillon, Entrée Nord, 2024-06-10
Réalisé le 10 juin 2024 à l'entrée nord du parc Forillon, Cap-des-Rosiers, Gaspésie, Québec.
Cliquez sur l'image pour l'agrandir / click on the photograph to enlarge it.
Taken on June, 10th / 2024 at the Forillon Park 's north entrance, Parc-des-Rosiers, Gaspesia, Quebec.
Berlevåg, Finnmark, Norvège
Berlevåg, Finnmark, Norvège
Clangula hyemalis.
Clangula hyemalis.
Clangula hyemalis.
A Long-tailed Duck confidentially rides the winter waves at Sandbanks Provincial Park in Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada.
For me, chance plays a large role in acquiring a photo like this. The birds are are diving for food, and even on the surface they are constantly appearing and disappearing behind the surging surf.
So when I can briefly lock focus on one, I fire off burst after burst, hoping something works out. In this case I took about 300 pictures over a 15 minute period, of which two were successful. The others went immediately in the delete bin, with the frame showing no bird at all, part of a bird, or a ridiculously unfocussed bird.
A greater degree of skill went into finding a location to photograph from. We saw the birds from high ledge above the shore, but the site was exposed to blasting wind and driving sleet, and provided only a sharp downward angle for photography (not my favourite for water birds). Carefully picking our way down closer to the lake’s edge, we found shelter below a large rock overhang and in that shelter were able to work on the birds.
