ML187325771

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

*Rare | Whilst I was enjoying the arguments of a Marsh Wren that was calling in protest to my spishing, I seen both birds fly in and landed by the huts and cottages (29.9613652, -81.9854197), and the all brown plumage caught my attention. Two fisherman on a rather impressive bass boat was moving in and the ducks were swimming a little southerly. Bailing on a photo opportunity of a Marsh Wren, I scampered my way to my normal scope spot, which is high ground near the conference building and got excellent looks at them through my Swarovski EL 10x42 binoculars, then my Vortex spotting scope, and then I used the scope as I rested my Nikon D5600/Sigma 600mm lens to take some photos. Habitat is a large lake and the spot they were at should be at the break where there the slope increases to deeper water about 75 ft from the bank (29.9588671, -81.9867148), which they remained for the duration of my study. I timed their dives and they were under water on average 47 seconds. The dominant species in that area was Pied-billed Grebe, a single Common Loon and further out was a raft of Ring-necked Duck. This sighting is especially notable and isn't a target bird for our county and is the first county record. I believe this is the second time I have noted this species in Florida. These birds looked like adult hens. The head is brown with a dark cap and white patches on the side and a large dark bill. The body appeared dark brown and even darker back. The tail isn't very long and could be seen wagging while they rolled to the side and cleaned themselves. Belly is a very pale brown color. I separated White-wing Scoter by the lack of white in it's wings. After they cleaned themselves, they tucked their heads back for a little ducky nap, awww. I left after that. I did not make any field notes of the birds in flight other than the body was dark brown, lacked any contrasting colors, it had steady wing beats and location. Although there were several species of birds around, these girls didn't associate with other ducks, loons or grebes. Additionally I noted how fearless they were of a pontoon boat passing nearby. Watched both of them for 20 minutes. Hopefully they stick around. On my way out of base, I noticed they were gone and I regained contact visually through my scope at the Northern most part of the lake (29.9768957, -81.9986382). If you the eBird user do decide to come here and try to see them, note that this is a military base and they may require special access.

Technical information

Model

NIKON D5600

ISO

400

Focal length

600 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/7.1

Shutter speed

1/2000 sec

Dimensions

1746 pixels x 1164 pixels

Original file size

407.08 KB