Birding at Indian River Inlet
Continuing from my previous post on birding the Atlantic coast, the radar showed we had less than two hours before the rain would start. We still had to travel north from Maryland’s Ocean City Inlet to Delaware’s Indian River Inlet, and the drive itself was 20-30 minutes.
Arriving and setting up scopes, the sight was almost overwhelming, with ducks fishing in the inlet, as well as an estimated 1,200 Scoters bobbing up and down out in the Atlantic Ocean. 😲
But first, we couldn’t help but marvel at the many Scoters, Buffleheads, and 20+ Long-tailed Ducks right out in front of us. Those male Long-tails are such beauties! I got so many photos of them, here’s just three.
Long-tailed Duck (male)
Long-tailed Duck (female)
Reminder to ourselves, the rain was coming. We stopped the marveling/counting and got busy with our scopes. Could there be another duck species out in the ocean, mixed in that long, thick raft of 1,200 Scoters?
Surf Scoters
Black Scoters
Yay, I spotted and called out a Common Eider, nice!
Common Eider resting in the back of the long raft of Scoters
Seeing nothing else, I started scoping the inlet’s entire length of rocks on the other side, looking for shorebirds.
Three Brants caught my eye, making their way across the inlet further inland. Click!
Brants
I continued scoping.
And then suddenly I spotted four Harlequin Ducks perched on those rocks. Woohoo a second lifer today! 🤗💃😊 The club members were excited too!
Harlequin Ducks – Lifer #318
(male on right with three females)
Alas, no shorebirds found, but I’ll take those Harlequins!!
The winds were picking up and it felt like rain was impending….. a few more photos.
Surf Scoters
Black Scoters
Ring-billed, American Herring, Great Black-backed, and Lesser-Black-backed Gulls
A portion of the big scene, looking out to the Atlantic Ocean
Can’t help myself….one more Long-tailed Duck!
Long-tailed Ducks (males)
The grackle loudly announced, “It’s starting to rain!”
Bay Photos by Donna 