A male harlequin duck bounces among the waves near the south jetty of Yaquina Bay recently as it spends the winter along the Oregon coast. (Photo courtesy of Roy W. Lowe)Harlequin ducks are considered sea ducks and are found along the rocky portions of the Oregon coast from fall through spring. Retired U.S. Fish & Wildlife manager Roy Lowe of Waldport says that one the best and easiest marine locations to view this species in all of North American is along the Yaquina Bay’s south jetty where they can be seen perched on rocks or swimming and diving nearby.
Two male harlequin ducks fly with a more drab-looking female over Yaquina Bay in Newport. (Photo courtesy of Roy W. Lowe)Harlequin ducks will be present to about mid-April when they head inland to nest along fast flowing mountains streams as far away as Wyoming and Montana, according to Lowe, an avid and accomplished wildlife photographer. “I think the male harlequin duck is of one of the more beautiful North American ducks,” Lowe says. “By contrast, the female harlequin does all of the incubation so her drab colors serve as camouflage.”
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