Thursday, January 28, 2010

Masked Duck: My Latest Lifer!

Thursday, January 28, 2010
7 comments

Here's a short bit of digi-video of my life masked duck. I love that you can hear Phoebe commenting on a flyover Caspian tern in the background. We were birding at Viera Wetlands south of Cocoa Beach in east-central Florida. Viera (a sewage-treatment facility, natch) is one of the primo birding spots of the area and is especially great for bird photography. The duck was at least 120 yards away when I shot this.

Special thanks to Jeff Bouton and Mike Freiberg for the directions to what is my life bird #668 (or is it 669?). I can't dismember.

Anyway, super awesomely cool bird! This species is one I'd dipped on many times in Texas. It's especially sweet to get to see such a rarity with Phoebe (whose life list is not that far behind mine).

Huzzah!

7 comments:

On January 28, 2010 at 6:16 AM Julie Zickefoose said...

Nice video, but the best part is that Phoebe can tell a Caspian tern from a gull. Osmotic transfer of bird-knowhow?

On January 28, 2010 at 8:15 AM Nate said...

Great bird! One I've dipped on several times as well, including at Viera a few years back.

And to get the male with the cool black mask? Très sweet!

On January 28, 2010 at 11:26 AM Birding is Fun! said...

As I get older it seems that time gets faster and faster, relatively speaking. The "life bird theory of relativity" seems to similarly hold true: The more I go birding the more life birds become fewer and further between and therefore my level of excitement increases exponentially each time I see a life bird.

I think you and your Masked Duck proved my theory!

On January 28, 2010 at 2:52 PM Anonymous said...

Of course she recognized it! Phoebe had seen her mother working away on her beautiful painting of a Caspian tern for a BWD cover!
XXOOM.

On January 28, 2010 at 2:58 PM Julie Zickefoose said...

That's my Mimi, always has it figgered out before me...:-)

On January 28, 2010 at 7:08 PM Radd Icenoggle said...

Congrats on the Masked Duck. I have always thought that the bigger your lifelist gets, the fewer and further between the lifers come, which makes them all the more special.

On September 22, 2011 at 4:00 AM Web Design said...

I just seen the video. Its very interesting.
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