I particularly enjoy photographing ducks and other water birds. Of the many birds I photograph, Long-tailed Ducks are one of my favorites. The nonbreeding winter plumage of the male Long-tailed Duck is unique, as the photo above shows.

The only place in my area that I find Long-tailed Ducks is during the winter in Drayton Harbor in Northwest Washington. Depending on where the ducks are hanging out you can spot them from the Semiahmoo spit on one side of the harbor or from the pier in the city of Blaine on the other side. However, as you can see in the photo below, they tend to spend their time quite a ways offshore. Even with a 500mm lens it’s a challenge to get any closeup photos of these ducks.

I took these photos during a visit to Semiahmoo Resort in January. The resort is located at the end of the spit and is a good location to photograph a variety of birds, including these sporty little ducks. I keep hoping the Long-tailed Ducks will come in closer so I can get some better shots and will continue to visit until they do.