2007 A Friendly Duck

September 2007

Terry and I were out sailing early this week. The water was like glass as you can see from the attached pictures. The sails were picking up just enough wind to keep us moving albeit very slowly. We were just relaxing and soaking up the sun and scenery. Travel was nil and we only saw 2 other boats all afternoon.

Terry spotted something in the water a couple of hundred yards to port. It was moving towards us and when it got close enough, we recognized it as a duck. He/she swam within ten feet of the boat and started swimming along with us. He was swimming faster than the boat was sailing and circled us several times. After about 20 minutes as we approached the narrows (where there was no sun) he left us.

When I got home I looked at my field guide for birds trying to identify what kind of a duck it was. The closest I could come to identify it was a bay duck but I think I was wrong because it was a smaller duck. If there is any ornithologist out there, maybe you can identify it.

Fair winds.

John