Feb 25th, 2016 Birding

No one seems to be talking about the exceptionally mild winter we're having!

I can't recall any late February where there was absolutely no snow - and after todays 10-20mm of rain and 10+ degrees Quidi Vidi and other ponds are probably largely open if not entirely.

Despite the mild temps much of yesterdays birding was focused on the typical winter species for us in St. John's: gulls, sea ducks, and finches.

First up, this young male White-winged Crossbill was busy feeding on cones with his posse:

This Iceland Gull had a noticeably paler mantle in direct comparison to the usual riffraff of Kumlien's Gulls suggesting that it was more from the "glaucoides" side of the spectrum. It did have a pale eye and apparently clean white primaries in flight. Maybe some day we won't be able to count any of our usual Kumlien's Gulls as they will officially be considered a hybrid between pure Iceland Gulls and Thayer's Gulls. The palest of the pale will become highly sought after ;)

This is one of the two adult Common Gulls (aka European Mew Gull) in St. John's right now.

This is the "one with the band" - it hatched in 2010, and was banded in St. John's in the winter of 2011/2012 as a 2nd winter bird. So it is now in its 6th winter, or 7th calendar year of life.

At Cape Spear I was happy to see the traditional late February/March flock of eiders not far offshore.
I was even happier when they flew directly towards my perch in the rocks and fed no more than 50 meters away. Always an amazing spectacle to see so many eiders swimming in tight formation. Check out this video:

In the above video there is a pause near the end when the camera happens upon two different sub-species of Common Eider. Can you tell the differences?

The male further to the right has a wider bill lobe that extends higher up onto the face and is a more olive-green colour. The forehead is more peaked, and the faded green colour on the nape has a subtle extension onto the side of the face just below the black cap.

Compare those differences with the male borealis Common Eider that is just up and to the left. It has a brighter orange and smaller bill.

This Snowy Owl has been at Cape Spear for a week or more. While I was hidden away in the rocks watching the eiders it flew in and landed right in front of me!

While searching for the Gyrfalcon that has been in the area I came across this freshly consumed

?Dovekie.

The question is, was it eaten by the gyr or by the snowy?!

And, of course, the St. John's Yellow-legged Gull

What would a day of gull watching be if you didn't come across that blazing white head with a bluish gray mantle.

Sabine's Gull - Jan 31st

The last day of the month brought with it a great surprise in the form of a 1st winter Sabine's Gull at one of my favourite birding locations: St. Vincent's.

I'm not sure how many records there are for this species from land, but my guess would be in the 20-30 range. Which is surprising considering that it's a regular migrant offshore in both the spring and fall. A few of the local old-timers hadn't seen this species yet - thankfully it remained in the area for the entire day allowing many of the local birders to see it.

In comparison to kittiwakes, notice the shorter wings. Some of the field guides mention a longer tail, not something I noticed today in the field.

I assume the grey mantle indicates new feathers? They contrasted with the old browner feathers of the inner-wing.

Aged as a 1st winter by the black tail band, and the brown colour to the inner-wing.

Sabine's Gulls are one of few two-year gulls.

Video here:

Can you see the birders?

Some Memories from 2015

Another year of birding in Newfoundland has come and gone!

In total there were over 275 species of birds seen on the island this year, which is about average for us.

The year started off rather mild with little snow accumulation until February.

The following photo was taken in early February! Quidi Vidi lake, usually frozen by early January was opened up after a warm spell - note the lack of snow on the ground...

A Brown Thrasher was a pleasant surprise in February:

This Pine Warbler managed to survive the winter thanks to the generosity of local birders.

Spring in Newfoundland doesn't really exist, but for us it does signify the arrival of thousands of eiders driven further South by the approaching sea ice.

Finally Spring arrived and birds began their long journeys northward through Newfoundland:

As soon as the local breeders returned I was off to Germany for a month of school, and of course birding.

In August I finally spent some time studying the local moths. 2016 promises to be better ;)

A White-winged Tern in August was easily the highlight of the year for many of the local birders.

The first half of fall migration in Newfoundland involves time spent in the alder patches looking for small gems from further afield.

This Little Stint was seen by a few lucky birders - another amazing record for the island:

I crossed the province in October for an 8-week placement in the town of Port-aux-Basques. Weekends allowed me to explore the local birding hotspots.

One of my favourite birds, the Harlequin Duck, is a regular species in this area:

Then the finches started to arrive - this has probably been the best finch Autumn/Winter in several years. Redpolls were the first species to arrive in large numbers:

And White-winged Crossbills weren't far behind:

Winter is now back and we have another year to look forward to :-)

Happy New Year!