Along the coast we spotted several Long-tailed Ducks. This is the best shot I have so far. I hope to do better soon. Digi-scoping ducks on the ocean is very difficult the way I do it (camera is hand-held, I don't mount anything), and trying to follow the birds on the rises and swells with the scope and camera is almost impossible. Nevertheless, you can tell that this is a nice drake and hen.
We then headed inland a little bit to see if the Lesser Black-backed Gull that often winters in Newmarket was around. This was a bird that we could regularly count on for our CBC. I think the last time I saw it, it was a very distant 3rd winter plumaged bird. On Saturday it was a beautiful drive-up adult at the edge of the boat ramp. I have never seen a LBBG this well!
It was going to be hard to top that, so we pretty much wrapped up the day there, and decided to head back into town to pick out our Christmas tree, and for me to go to bed early. I knew that Sunday would be a long day because Paul and I were going to meet up between 3:30 and 4:00am to go owling for our local CBC. Chirstmas tree picked-out and on the back porch, we watched a little bit of TV (Tropical Rainforest episode of 'Planet Earth' and went to bed.
Sunday, December 14th 3:25am and I am awake before the alarm. It is 17°f outside, and I am layering on clothes to spend the next few hours outdoors, while thinking I must be crazy. It was a beautiful and clear night with almost a full moon and very bright, and having that first Eastern Screech Owl respond to the tremelo whistle makes it all worthwhile. (Paul is amazing at this - I'm okay, but still get stage-fright in front of others) Several hours and a few more screech owls later I am back home to adjust layers and head back out again. I was only able to participate until about 3pm, as I needed to go home, shower, and head out to work in the evening until 11pm (and that's the reason I am still so tired).
We didn't have any extraordinary species this year, but one of the highlights (for me anyway) were the numbers of Brown Creepers that we found. I wasn't the one keeping the list, but I can say for sure that we saw at least 11 different individuals in 6 hours! Never having had the opportunity before to try and get a photo of these cryptic little birds, I tried firing off a shot or sixty. The best one of the whole group is:
Another bird that I took a few shots of were the Coot that were close to the edge of the water at Horn Pond. I always have had a hard time with these all dark birds with the bright white bills. One of a couple of things happens - body is too dark and no facial definition to speak of (looking eyeless - eww!) or the bill is glowing to the point of losing definition. Today the sun was just right for a few shots. But typically, the moment they are in the right spot - splush, down they go!
And I think with that thought, it time for me to hit the sack and try to recover before next weekend's Christmas Bird Count. (Which will be at the Isles of Shoals - stay tuned!)
