Tuesday 11 February 2014

Tuesday Birding

Mid-winter birding in Newfoundland involves a lot of dreaming and seeing the same birds over and over again. This morning I was at Cape St. Francis for sunrise dreaming of birds in white, numerous Iceland Gulls and Black Guillemots were the only ones that matched that description but left me unsatisfied.
At least the sunrise was nice:

Although the sea ice is supposedly approaching Cape St. Francis it wasn't visible with my scope. The only ice around was on the rocks:


A few of the local Black-headed Gulls have started molting into their alternate (breeding) plumage:

1 of 3 Ring-necked Ducks over-wintering in St. John's this year:


This Common Merganser has pleased many birders and photographers in town - it's rare to have a Common Merganser be so tame plus the added bonus that open water is very limited to it is forced to feed close to shore:



Here's a quick video of her swimming around: