duck

Wipe Your Mouth When You’re Finished Eating /  by Todd Henson

A male long-tailed duck with a bit of underwater greens across its face.

A bit of underwater greens and some mud on its bill provides evidence this male long-tailed duck had recently been underwater foraging for food. I wonder if it appreciated me catching it with food on its face. 😁

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Some Bald Eagles Like Duck /  by Todd Henson

Most often I see bald eagles in this area eating fish, either that they’ve caught or stolen from another bird. But eagles are opportunistic and will feed on many things besides fish.

The bald eagle ruffled its feathers just after landing on the dead tree.

One morning while hiking a local wildlife refuge we saw an eagle fly from its massive nest and head out over the bay. We thought it was going fishing, but when we kept watching as it got further and further away we saw it begin to dip down towards the water then back up into the air again, and it did this several times. That’s not how they typically fish. But we noticed small dark spots moving around on the water just below the eagle, too small to make out but we assumed some species of duck. It was only when the bald eagle flew back to a tree in the refuge that we noticed it had, indeed, caught a duck as its next meal.

After ruffling its feather the bald eagle stretched out its wings.

The tree was at a bit of a distance so I cropped these images fairly aggressively to give you a better view of the bald eagle and the duck it caught. The first few images show the eagle shortly after it landed on the dead tree, ruffled its feathers, and then began eating.

Now the bald eagle was ready to begin eating the duck it had just caught from the surface of the water.

Eventually, it had eaten enough and would soon take flight. How did I know it was just about to take flight? As gross as this may seem, they often defecate just before lifting off, and sure enough, about 10 seconds after lightening its load it stretched out its wings and took flight. If you want to photograph eagles or other large birds as they take flight then watch for these signs. They won’t always do it, but when they do it’s often followed by flight.

Pre-flight preparation, lightening the load (1 of 3)

Pre-flight preparation, lightening the load (2 of 3)

Pre-flight preparation, lightening the load (3 of 3). Watch out below!

The bald eagle positions itself for taking flight. I love how they look!

The bald eagle opens its wings, ready to take flight.

I love how bald eagles look as they take flight, so very majestic and powerful. Once the eagle has left the tree you can get a better view of the duck, or at least its legs. I don’t know exactly what species it was. Also, click on the last photo to see a bigger view and look closely at the eagle’s eye. I happened to photograph it while it had its nictitating membrane closed over the eye. That’s why it looks cloudy instead of that bold yellow and black you’ll see when the eyelids are fully open.

The bald eagle takes flight, pushing itself off the tree while still clasping the dead duck.

Stretching out its powerful wings the bald eagle flies away from the tree, duck securely clasped in its talons.

Flying away from the tree the bald eagle stretches out its wings and begins to angle itself back towards its nest. Notice both the legs of the duck dangling from its talons and also the cloudy look to its eyes because of the closed nictitating membrane.

In a future post I hope to share some photos of this eagle’s massive nest, so large and deep you can’t always tell when there’s an eagle in the nest.

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A Long-tailed Duck Scratching That Itch /  by Todd Henson

Scratch that itch! Notice its bluish feet.

Back in 2019 I was fortunate to witness a duck just a tad off course during its Spring migration. A long-tailed duck showed up at the beautiful Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, a location I wish I was able to get to more often, and we just happened to be there to see it. So I went back the next day with my longest lens and spent the entire day happily photographing this duck as it swam around the same little pond, diving down for food every so often.

Notice its foot again, draped over its back

In going through the photographs I noticed a number of them where the duck is scratching an itch, or in some cases likely just preening, and I think each photograph is interesting for the different positions and looks of the duck. In some you can’t see its long tail at all, in others its very visible. And some show its fascinating bluish webbed feet, which are most often hidden below the surface.

Another view with its leg stretched across its back

The long-tailed duck with head down, preening.

I hope you enjoy this look back at this beautiful bird, one I’ll never forget.

To see more of this beautiful duck take a loot at:

Oh, yeah, right there! Notice the long tail.

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