Sunday, December 13, 2009

Ducks and Dinner






Two years ago I participated in an event called the World Series of Birding.

This always struck me as a curious name, as there is no series (it is a one day event) and it is limited to New Jersey. Oh well.

Despite being first timers we finished in the top 20! (Ok, so we were 20th. That's in the top 20.)

Last year, for a variety of reasons, we were unable to field a team. But we do plan on competing again in 2010. And as part of our training we get together monthly for a birding excursion. We called our December outing "Ducks and Dinner".

First we went looking for ducks, and any other birds we could find, along the Jersey shore. Several of those we spotted (and were close enough to photograph!) are shown above. And since this was a training trip, I'll let you join in on the fun and identify the three species shown.

As the sun was setting we headed out to a local seafood restaurant for the dinner part of the trip, where we planned for our next outing, tentatively entitled "Gulls and Buoys".

6 comments:

Ron a.k.a. Danudin said...

Yanks never worry about names, World Championship Wrestling is a case in point. We in Australia have Blue Water Sailing, but not Blue Water Ducking, I love the elaborate lengths you go to to stage a party, though! Maybe you should be a tad mor open with it and just hold a Party to celebrate "This Tuesday" for instance - I do (Often)

Chesney said...

Sounds like a fun event - can hardly wait to see the images from the next one!

Lené Gary said...

What fun! What kind of bird is the black and white one? Great pics. :)

MevetS said...

@ Ron, and why have I not been invited to these Tuesday parties?

@ Tammy, thanks, I look forward to taking them!

@ Lené, you're supposed to try first! (And thanks.)

Vanessa said...

Great photographs of the ducks. Your monthly birding excursions with friends sounds like a lot of fun. Are the ducks you photographed Ruddy Ducks, Lesser Scaup, and Hooded Merganser?

MevetS said...

@ Vanessa, we have a winner!