Identification help

 UPDATE: The creature in question is a Greater Scaup. Thanks Luke! 

 

I have a picture that follows this article of a duck I need help identifying. It was seen in Biddeford Pool and was feeding with Common Goldeneyes. Although not the best picture due to the distance at which the picture was taken, I believe it is good enough for I.D. purposes.

 

Please reply by clicking the Leave a passing comment » link at the end of this article. Thank you!

Happy birding!

Technorati Tags: duck, Biddeford Pool, birding

Sphere: Related Content

Eiders in the Gut at Pines Landing

We have been birding the Gut at Pines Landing in Biddeford Pool quite a bit lately. Whether it’s low or high tide, waterfowl of all types are either flying or floating through the Gut.

This past weekend we viewed the following;

• 44 Common Eiders
• 7 Red-Breasted Mergansers
• 8 Common Loons
• 38 Canada Geese
• 4 Old Squaw (Longtail Duck)
• 9 Horned Grebe
• 12 Bufflehead
• 5 Golden Eye
• 1 Surf Scoter
• 1 White Winged Scoter

It was a fun time indeed!

I leave you with some images of the Eiders we saw, some of them comical. Click a thumbnail for a larger view.

 Happy birding!

Technorati Tags: birding, waterfowl, images

Sphere: Related Content

Ash-Throated Flycatcher

The Ash-Throated Flycatcher that has been seen at the Saco Yacht Club is still hanging around as of today, December 10th.

Thanks to fellow birder Bob Malbon, he is allowing me to post this wonderful photograph he took today of this beautiful bird. Photograph copyright 2006 Bob Malbon and may not be used without permission.

Click the thumbnail for a larger view.

 

Happy birding!

Technorati Tags: Saco, birder, photograph, bird, birding

Sphere: Related Content

White Winged Scooter

Birding Granite Point again Sunday morning allowed us to see some great birds, but cloudy conditions were terrible for photography.

The first place we stopped was Curtis Cove, and the King Eider was there yet again. Fellow birder Bob Malbon passed on to us about a birder who showed up at the cove in search of the King Eider, but had no luck finding it.

I think he may have been a little too early. I was told he arrived at 6:30 p.m. and left after half an hour. We have been seeing it around 7:30 a.m. until about 8:15 a.m. The King Eider then heads seaward and then north toward New Barn Cove and Hoyt Neck. (Maine Atlas Page 3/D3). I hope he reads this article and finally gets to see this beautiful bird.

Another wonderful sighting was 2 male and 2 female Redhead Ducks feeding in the Little River near the end of Granite Point Road. Further down the river, I saw a duck that I want to say was a Ruddy Duck, but I am not positive that is what it was. Maybe a return birding trip to the area will have this duck closer for ID.

Several Common Loons and Red-Breasted Mergansers populated Curtis Cove, and many Black Ducks and Green Winged Teal fed in the pannes of the area. A lone Lesser Yellow Legs is still hanging out in the panne directly in front of the parking area near the entrance to the refuge.

The highlight of the birding excursion was the sighting of a first winter White Winged Scooter. It is also a life list first for my wife and I!

The following photograph was taken by fellow birder Bob Malbon and is copyrighted by him. Many thanks go out to him for allowing the use of his photograph. The White Winged Scooter was some ways off, but I think Bob did a great job capturing this Scooter for identification purposes.

 

 

 

 

 

A Great Blue Heron was in flight near the pannes as we left the area around mid-morning. 

Happy birding!

Technorati Tags: photography, birder, bird, birding, photograph

Sphere: Related Content