Just the Ducks, Ma'am

Dum da dum dum. Dum da dum dum, Dummmm.

My name is Kaufman. I carry a camera. It was January 16. It was a hot morning in Candaba. I am with my wife, Cynthia, and birding friends, Peter and Wenxing. We came here to look for ducks. Rare ones. Possible lifers. Baikal Teal and Falcated Duck. Never before seen in the Philippines.

There were already several photographers there when we arrived. Mark B let us look through his spotting scope. Baikal Teal swimming. We quickly set up our gears and took pictures. Lifer #1 checked. Just barely 15 minutes after our arrival. 

Then the long wait for the Falcated. A really long wait. Even the census takers from DENR and WBCP have not seen it. Yet.

There were ducks alright. Plenty of them. Different kinds even. The endemic Philippine Ducks, of course.

Wandering Whistling Ducks.

Some of the migrants were:
Eurasian Wigeon

Eurasian Teal

Northern Pintail

Northern Shoveler

Garganey

A puzzler: Greater Scaup or Tufted Duck?

More than an hour passed. Still no Falcated. Then Rocky S. showed us a photo. "Is this a Spot-billed Duck?" He wanted to know. I said yes. He pointed where it was. Lifer #2 checked. A complete surprise for us.

Another half hour went by. I looked through my camera lens. A bunch of ducks swimming. Wait. One of them has a big dark head. With a small white area on the throat. I took a bunch of shots. 

Spent another two hours hoping for the Falcated. Even mistook a snoozing Shoveler for it. My buddies were disappointed. My bad. At 11:30 the sun was beating down on us. Real hard. My wife asked Wenxing if we will be looking for other birds. "Just the ducks, ma'am," he replied. Decided to go home after that.

At home. I was reviewing my photos. Duck with big, dark head was Falcated, indeed. Lifer#3 checked. 

Three lifers. All in one morning. Just ducks.

Dum da dum dum. Dum da dum dum. Dummmm.