Long-tailed Ducks

Long-Tailed Duck LANDING , Clangula hyemalis (Harelde kakawi) Kachemak Bay, Homer, AK ©Christopher Dodds www.chrisdoddsphoto.com Canon EOS 1D MKIII, 500mm F4IS, 2XII Teleconverter ISO 400, F8 1/1600s Manual mode. Gitzo 1325 tripod and Wimberley Head II. Click HERE to purchase a print or license an image for publication.

Long-Tailed Duck Flyby , Clangula hyemalis (Harelde kakawi) Kachemak Bay, Homer, AK ©Christopher Dodds www.chrisdoddsphoto.com Canon EOS 1D MKIII, 500mm F4IS, 2XII Teleconverter ISO 400, F8 1/1600s Manual mode. Gitzo 1325 tripod and Wimberley Head II. Click HERE to purchase a print or license image for publication.

Apart from the obvious fun and excitement of photographing Bald Eagles during my annual March trip to Alaska, Photographing Long-Tailded Ducks in flight certainly ranks right up there on the difficulty scale. These ducks come in fast, low and have an uncanny ability to out maneuver even the most skilled of lensmen.
I was set-up low, on the tideline, and the recent lousy, cloudy and dark sky lifted as the sea calmed to a near mirror flat (did I mention the soft, gorgeous Alaskan light?). What a glorious evening I had with many close flybys and dozens of Long-Tailed ducks landing at full-frame distance. It was just one of those moments that I'll never forget.

Formerly known as Oldsquaw, the Long-Tailed Duck, Clangula hyemalis, is among my very favorite ducks. Capable of diving some 200 feet, it spends the most time under water relative to time on the surface ,while foraging, of all the diving ducks. With three different plumages during the year, it has the most complex molt of any waterfowl species.

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