One of my ongoing projects has been to photograph all of the interesting ducks and other waterfowl that are commonly found in Western Washington. Until I got interested in bird photography I wouldn’t have guessed that there are 27 different species of ducks that can be found within a few hour drive of my house in Northwest Washington. I have made it out several times this winter looking for new duck subjects and here are a few photos from one of those trips–a visit to the Semiahmoo spit near Blaine, Washington.

Harlequin Ducks are one of my favorite ducks–the colors of the male Harlequin are amazing. I have taken photos of Harlequin Ducks in the past, but in December enjoyed a close encounter with a pair of Harlequins at the Semiahmoo spit. The ducks stayed near the dock I was shooting from for around 20 minutes, and I was able to get better photos of this interesting duck than I had taken previously.  The photo above is of the male duck.

One of the reasons I visited the Semiahmoo spit was to look for Northern Pintails, a type of duck that I didn’t have any photos of. As hoped, I found a good sized flock of Pintails at the spit and finally added some photos to my portfolio.

The main purpose of my visit to Semiahmoo was to look for Long-tailed ducks. Talk about an amazing looking duck! These birds aren’t super common, so when I heard reports of them at Semiahmoo I jumped in the car a few days later for the two hour drive to find them. Fortunately, the Long-tailed Ducks were there. Unfortunately they stayed a long way out in Drayton Harbor, so I wasn’t able to get any closeup shots. Oh well, mission accomplished–at least I got a photo of new type of duck for my project and I now have a good reason to go back in search of some closer shots.

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