By Sally Siko
Impeccably dressed in a dapper plumage of steel gray, rust, white and black few species of duck match the rizz of the Harlequin Drake.
While I’d seen this bird before, I’d never had the opportunity to photograph a male in breeding plumage until yesterday.
I spotted these feathered gems while walking on the jetty at Barnegat Light SP on Long Beach Island in eastern NJ.
Just getting in a position to photograph this bird required a bit of patience in negotiating the slippery rock jetty.
Each step must be taken with care, particularly while shouldering a camera.
The going was slow, with each measured step it was increasingly difficult to rein in my excitement.
Especially once I saw this small flock of Harlequins up ahead sitting on the rocks ahead, perfectly framed in that good-good light.
I was so worried that the ducks would fly off on my approach but as it turned out, they really didn’t care once I crouched down low to capture these pics.
Freak’n awesome!
A familiar species to many living in northeastern coastal areas of the western hemisphere, Harlequin Ducks spread the winter months primarily along the coast of Atlantic Canada and New England.
Representing a point of their most southernmost winter range, BLSP is one of the best places on the east coast to find these beauties.
Each October, the Harlequins arrive to the park spend the cooler months hunting for food alongside the jetty.
And what a great place to find a snack!
These guys are voracious eaters of Snails, periwinkles, small clams, limpets, chitons, blue mussels, hermit crabs and amphipods, all of which are available to find as the ducks prod and peck within the cracks of the jetty rocks.
They will stick around through mid-March before they head north for their breeding grounds in Greenland and Canada.
This means you’ve still got a short of time to see one before the winter ends.
By the way, I’m going to lead a trip at nearby Cape May NJ later this year. Check the calendar below
for booking details!
Photo by Sally Siko of @bestlife_birding captured on my mighty mirrorless monster, the @canonusa #R5