Cold weather ducks are still working the rocks at Indian River Inlet.  Here are a Surf Scoter, Blue Bills and Buffleheads hanging along the rocks on the north side of the inlet last weekend.

The word goes out and these Buffleheads all take to flight in a split second.  I wonder how they know when to take of or who makes the call?  Maybe it is that hen running ahead of the pack who makes the order.

Yesterday I posted a drake Long-tailed duck taking off with his wings up, so today you get the photograph of the wings down.  An interesting note was passed along to me by a birding friend. I used the term ‘breeding’  in describing the winter, non-breeding, plumage of the Long-tailed. I got that information from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website ( a great place for bird info) which say about the Long-tailed,  “Unlike other waterfowl, the Long-tailed Duck wears its “breeding” or Alternate Plumage only in the winter. It gets its “nonbreeding” or Basic Plumage in the spring and wears it for the breeding season. Most other ducks wear the nonbreeding plumage only for a short period in the late summer.” It is an interesting and beautiful duck and can be seen in Delaware very commonly in Indian River Inlet in the winter.  The long tail feathers are better seen as he hops out of the water in this photograph.

I found a good number of Long-tailed ducks feeding in Indian River Inlet this afternoon.  These guys breed in the Arctic in the summer but wears their ‘breeding’ plumage in the winter, luckily for us.  They are beautiful ducks that can dive as deeply as 200 feet, and stay under water for a long time.  In the inlet they were feeding along the jetty rocks and seemingly enjoying the sunny, breezy, cold afternoon.  This drake took off right in front of me after a short run on the water and I am very thankful that he did.  His long tail feathers make it obvious how it got its name.

These mallards rested on an icy ledge this weekend.  They were lucky to find some open water as temperatures in the teens froze most water bodies.  First light of the rising sun brought a little warmth to their feathers.