Dark pool – Tufted Duck on Upper Otay Lake

[All photographs copyright, Gary Nunn 2014] – This superb male Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula was found by Matt Sadowski and Lea Squires on 24 Dec 2014 at Upper Otay Lake in San Diego County. By the time I arrived there, around 11:30 a.m., it was drifting around, and on-off sleeping, in the middle of the small lake with many other diving ducks. I photographed it at some distance using the Canon 1Dx with 500 mm/f4 IS II lens and Extender EF 2X III combo. This combined 1000 mm focal length, on the full frame camera sensor, leads to some image quality loss but the results at least allow you to pull in birds from a great distance away. Tufted Duck is particularly attracted to semi-wooded, dark freshwater pools and this small lake seems an ideal location you could at least wish to encounter this very rare duck species here in southern California! The San Diego County Bird Atlas describes three previous records from San Diego County, the last seen in 1998 at Famosa Slough (Unitt 2004). An early Christmas present for avid county listers here in San Diego County!

Tufted Duck – Upper Otay Lake, San Diego County, California 24 Dec 2014

Tufted Duck – Upper Otay Lake, San Diego County, California 24 Dec 2014

Tufted Duck – Upper Otay Lake, San Diego County, California 24 Dec 2014

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