Sea Watch Monday November 30, 2009

The above Harlequin Duck showed nicely for a brief time just off the jetty in the morning. (photo copyright Doug Gochfeld)

The Long-tailed Ducks finally built in by the seawatch today, and we had a flock of 11 by the end of the day. Hopefully this means they're finally here to stay. (photo copyright Doug Gochfeld)

Most of today was spent clicking the steady flow of Red-throated Loons flying by and differentiating distant Gulls (all of the 3 common species were moving today). The Long-tailed Duck flock right in front of the watch gradually grew throughout the day from 1 male in the morning, to 11 individuals by the evening, which entertained by persistently calling. During the first hour of the day, a male Harlequin Duck flew in and landed by the jetty for a time before I lost track of it. The only non-waterbird highlight was a flyover Snow Bunting.

Location: Avalon Seawatch
Observation date: 11/30/09
Number of species: 44

Brant 5
Canada Goose 4
American Wigeon 1
American Black Duck 28
Mallard 4
Northern Pintail 2
Green-winged Teal 6
Greater Scaup 3
Lesser Scaup 2
Common Eider 14
Harlequin Duck 2
Surf Scoter 89
White-winged Scoter 5
Black Scoter 1252
dark-winged scoter sp. 34
Long-tailed Duck 39
Bufflehead 2
Hooded Merganser 4
Red-breasted Merganser 13
Red-throated Loon 4061
Common Loon 14
Northern Gannet 309
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 2
Black-bellied Plover 1
Semipalmated Plover 11
American Oystercatcher 14
Ruddy Turnstone 4
Sanderling 35
Purple Sandpiper 24
Dunlin 10
Bonaparte's Gull 38
Laughing Gull 11
Ring-billed Gull 215
Herring Gull 270
Great Black-backed Gull 236
Forster's Tern 1
Rock Pigeon X
Carolina Wren 1
European Starling X
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Snow Bunting 1 Calling flyover towards main jetty
Boat-tailed Grackle 1
House Sparrow X