Monday 2 November 2015

Saturday Storm ... a washout?

I had high hopes for Saturdays strong winds during what should be the peak of alcid migration here in Newfoundland. Did see a few hundred alcids, mostly Dovekies, but not the hoped for thousands of large alcids flying very close to shore. No jaegers either!

The story of the day was kittiwakes. Thousands of them were flying West all day. I'd say at least 10K flew past my view point throughout the day, not that I stayed there all day though.



The swells were pretty impressive, and the birds handling the swells were even more impressive:

Imm. Herring Gull:

1st year Great Black-backed Gull:

A gang of DC Cormorants:

Dovekies were numerous on Saturday - and several seeked out sheltered coves and hung out very very close to shore:

Iceland Gulls started showing up in the area during the last week of October. I'm expecting a big push of this species this coming weekend:

Black Guillemots are all in their winter coats by now:

Bobbing for dovekies?

A juvenile N. Harrier was working the coast - wonder how many more I'll see this year?

Snow Buntings have been frustratingly timid - I'm hoping to build up a database of SNBU photos this trip but it's not going as well as planned.

My best looks at an adult male Black Scoter - who needs a fog light when you got a honker like that!

Red-necked Grebes are common in this area, whereas on the Avalon they can be quite rare away from the few known wintering sites.