This was the only guy out surfing the other day. He thinks the water temp is just perfect I really did see him bobbing along the shore. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Long-tailed-duck.jpg
That thing is absolutely beautiful. People don't hunt those, do they? Hope not. How could someone destroy that for fun? Did he dive and stay under for extended periods only to pop up many yards away like I have seen other species of duck do in the surf ?
beautiful to the eyes, yes.. to the ears, maybe? to the nose: unlikely...however the real question is how does it taste
long tails they are what is called a 'diving duck', the other kinds being tree, dabbler, and sea. would you be surprised to learn that it was saved by hunters?? (ying so it can be shot !!) (yang-YOU try bagging one of 'em; damn near impossible,,) i agree that it is 'absolutely beautiful.'
Sea Duck Recipe Ingredients: 3 or 4 sea sea duck breasts, butterflied and boned. 1 bundle of shallots, minced. 4 heads of garlic, minced. 2 table spoon of ginger powder. 2 tablespoon of fresh ground black pepper. 1 tablespoon of brown sugar. 1/2 onion, minced. 4 cups of low salt soy sauce (or Worcestershire sauce). 2 cups of buttermilk. 1 cedar plank (the kind you use for cooking salmon on). To prepare: 1. Shoot four nice sea ducks. Clean immediately upon getting home, and put the boned out, butterflied breasts in a big container with iced water for two or three hours. 2. Rinse thoroughly, and pat dry with paper towels. 3. Put breast meat in a bowl with buttermilk. Make sure you use enough buttermilk to submerge the meat. 4. Put marinating meat in the fridge for 3 days. 5. After marinating the meat in buttermilk for three days, rinse thorougly in iced water, and pat dry. 6. Mix in a bowl all the ingredients mentioned above, and marinate the breast meat in the sauce for at least two days (refrigerated, of course). 7. On a separate dish, soak the cedar plan in the marinate for up to two days (refrigerated). 8. Set the oven at the lowest temperature possible (I like it set at 115 degrees). 9. Take the meat out of the marinate, and lay the breast meat on the the cedar plank. 10. Slow cook the meat on the cedar plank for up to four hours (again, very low heat).
Yes!!!! There's a whole flock of them at this certain break, or at least on the other side of the jetty and when they all take off together and fly, the beating of their wings makes a whistling noise that's quite beautiful. There are also bufflehead and surf scoter out there in the 30 something degree frickin' freezing cold water!
They are probably quite tasty but a lot of trouble for some itty bitty breast filets. Fish are much more worth the effort and easier and less dangerous to drink beer while attempting to procure. Shotguns hurt more than fish hooks in case of the inevitable drunken mishap.
I have Mallard Ducks in my neighborhood. These guys are pretty cool. http://www.xromm.org/files/images/projects/duck-feeding/MallardDucks.jpg
Used to have mallards nesting all along the sound side canals in the OBX area, but they've disappeared due to shore development and addition of bulkheads. 20-25 yrs ago there were more ducks than locals along those shores
If its same pod @ the same break, a pod of few thousand mix of sea ducks, divers and ruddy's, heard them before I saw them, they make a humming burring sound while they're resting on the water. Sea Ducks amazing swimmers, they use their wings as well as their feet which allows them to swim under water some distance feeding on small bait fish.
I haven't duck hunted since my kids were born... almost 20 years. But I used to duck hunt a LOT as a young man, and never shot a sea duck of any kind that I liked to eat. Teal and woodies were best, IMO. But I'm picky about ducks... unless you go out to PA or something, and shoot 'em in a corn field. Then they all taste good.
OLDSQUAW (long tailed duck) though legal game this specie (LTDUCK) is quite clever with respect to hunters as such THEY ARE ALMOST NEVER SHOT…i know they get 'em here and there, but as a 40 year waterfowler i haven't gotten one yet…another difficult behavior is they tend to arrive on the scene THE DAY AFTER the season closes. tough get around dat. another interesting thing is that they seem to enjoy the company of surfers. i think they think we are ducks until they pay closer attention…i surfed today and called one in with a soft bbbrrrrruuuppppp minor lip flap….circled twice!
