Long-tailed Duck
Yesterday I came across a couple of “birders” as I walked Coby along the Bayview trail at Coyote Hills. They had out their binoculars and every now and then jotted something down in their notebook. I asked them what they were writing, and they told me they were identifying different species of birds as part of the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count project.
We noticed a red-tailed hawk sitting on a fencepost up on the hill, and they quickly jotted it down in their notebook. They told me they had just seen a Merlin, one of the fastest flying falcons on the planet, and I asked if they had seen the American Kestrel perched in the top of the Eucalyptus tree. Yep, noted. We exchanged pleasantries and went along our ways.
On my way back down the trail, our paths crossed again. Mona, the lady whose job it was to be the scribe, came running up to me and said she had a favor to ask. She said they had seen a long-tailed duck, a very rare species for this area, only appearing for a short period of time once every 2 or 3 years.
She asked, since they were only carrying smart phones for cameras and didn’t have sufficient zoom capabilities to document the duck out on the bay, if I would be able to use my camera and 600mm zoom lens to photograph it and send them the photo to their email. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity!
Mona pointed out which duck it was because there were several Northern Shovelers, and I didn’t know the difference. Keeping an eye on it, I backtracked up the trail to try and get some better lighting and then proceeded to take 20 or 30 photos.
She told me that the photos were necessary in order to document a rare species for the competition. So, having completed my very important role in this competition, LOL, I made it back home, processed the photos and got them off in the mail. They received them and let me know they were perfect and thanked me for the assist.
