Early this morning I found 12 Long-tailed Ducks feeding at Lakeshore State Park in Milwaukee. The last couple of days I had found groups of first 6 then 9 yesterday, now 12! They all appear to be immature or females. I have not studied them close as of yet. They typically all dive about the same time, get their food, surface, look around, regroup and dive once again. I walked the park early just after sun up and these ducks were not around. These typically stay very close together as a group. A couple of hours later they came in from farther out from the south. In the last few days it appears these ducks have a circuit they do for food, and have numerous places they feed. I saw a group of 8-10 off Texas Ave yesterday. Maybe they are the same ducks. This is the first year I have seen more than 1 or 2. The morning started out with some snow flurries that gave way to mostly sunny skies for the morning. It was cold, temps started at 16 and there was a good wind from the west. Images were taken on December 15, 2017.
Long-tailed Ducks, all 12
Long-tailed Duck
Binomial name: Clangula hyemalis
Category: Ducks, Geese, and Swans
Size: 16.5” long, 28” wing span
Weight: 1.6 lb
Cool Fact: This duck was once known as Oldsquaw
They all dive about the same time, here are a few in this image…
They come in fast to feed just off the shore in water 15′-20′ deep…
Before the dive…
Start of the dive…
The dive…
Up close…
The blue sky reflection with the Long-tailed Duck…
Thanks for sharing, Jim! Long-tails are always a thrill to see.
Wow! That’s a lot of long-tails for L. Michigan.
Beautiful shots Jim! 🙂
Thanks for sharing! I’m the newbie you chatted with tht morning – I didn’t realize it was a post on your site you shared to Birding Wisconsin earlier that led me to the park!