[texbirds] Long-tailed Duck at Donna Reservoir - Photos
- From: Erik Breden <erik.breden@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: TexBirds <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 17 Nov 2012 18:49:31 -0600
TexBirders,
Following up on Mary Gustafson's earlier post, I went over to the
Donna Reservoir this afternoon to look for the Long-tailed Duck. The
reservoir is located in Donna south of Route 83 at the intersection
of Route 1423 (Valley View Road) and Stites Road.
Huck Hutchins from Estero Llano Grande State Park, was there when i
arrived and quickly got me onto the bird.
It is hanging out with a flock of 400-500 Lesser Scaup. When I saw
it, the flock was on the East side of the road, making for relatively
good viewing in the afternoon light. It is more compact and sits
lower in the water than the Scaup, so it easily disappeared from view
whenever it swam behind one. Amazingly, the bird was often out of
sight for many minutes before being spotted again The flock swam in
circles, split into smaller groups, and re-formed the big flock
several times while I was watching and photographing. Often the flock
was dozens of birds "thick", so there were lots of places for the
Long-tailed Duck to "hide".
At 3:45 PM the entire flock took wing and flew over the road to the
West side. Since it was late afternoon, the light was awful, so
finding the bird again would be very difficult. I left about 4:00 PM
without finding it again.
"Documentary" photos can be viewed at:
www.otterside.com/fall2012
Enjoy!
Erik Breden
Harlingen, Texas
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- » [texbirds] Long-tailed Duck at Donna Reservoir - Photos - Erik Breden
