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!”
Boat-tailed Grackle (male)
We quickly packed up our gear and ran for our vehicles, all done with big smiles and a thank you to Mother Nature for holding off the rain just long enough for us to enjoy this birding bonanza!
Bird Alert – There is one bird I did not share in this post, the Great Cormorant. I’ve seen/photographed poor photos of one at a great distance atop a lighthouse; but the day’s opportunity at this inlet afforded much closer shots for my records, and I got quite a few. Next post!
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Birding the Inlet at Ocean City, Maryland
I spent this past Saturday birding two Atlantic Ocean coastal inlets with the bird club. It was windy and cold, and rain was due by mid-afternoon.
We started at the inlet at Ocean City, Maryland. There we found small numbers of Scoters, Buffleheads, Common and Red-throated Loons, Red-breasted Mergansers, and Long-tailed Ducks. With our scopes, we could see the Razorbills, nice. We had hoped for a Dovekie sighting but no luck on that one.
Getting focused photos were difficult with the winds, but I did manage a few. This first photo was important…. a lifer!
Purple Sandpipers, waaaay on the other side of the inlet, but there they are! – Lifer #317
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Sanderling
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Bufflehead (female)
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White-winged Scoters
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We left the inlet and before heading to the second one, we made a stop at Ocean City’s Rt. 50W causeway, to scope Skimmer Island. I got a few shots there.
Brants (total was 150+)
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Bufflehead (female)
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Bald Eagle
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And then we made a quick stop at a strip mall’s water management pond known for Black-Crowned Night Herons to see if they were there. They were, eight of them!
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Black-crowned Night Heron (adult)
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As one parent watched from the tree, others circled over us in flight. It was quite thrilling!
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Black-crowned Night Heron (immature)
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Black-crowned Night Heron (immature)
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Black-crowned Night Heron (adult)
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With Elliott’s Pond next door, we quickly finished up with all the ducks and birds there.
At this point and time, we had a half hour drive and rain to start in 2-3 hours. We jumped in our vehicles and got moving, heading to Indian River Inlet, for what was to be a thrilling birding bonanza! More to come….
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Birds at Blackwater NWR
After leaving those gorgeous Great Blue Herons on Middle Hoopers Island last Sunday, heading back home luckily passes back through vast marsh remoteness that includes Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. Although there wasn’t much in bird activity, I did manage to get a few photos I liked passing along the way.
Northern Pintail
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Snow Geese (both white and blue morph) with a few Northern Pintails in the mix
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Bald Eagle
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Bald Eagle nest at the end of the auto wildlife drive
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Bald Eagle
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Northern Harrier
And I’ll end with this amazing encounter of eight Bald Eagles, grouped together at a field puddle.
Bald Eagles (6 adult, 2 immatures)
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More Snow Means More Snow Birds
From Tuesday afternoon through the wee hours of Wednesday morning, we were walloped with 8-9″ of snow. When I got up, my backyard birds were already busily looking for the buried food that I had put out on the ground and in branch crevices in ‘their’ tree just before the snow began. I stepped out on my back porch and took some photos of the birds against the winter landscape.
Northern Cardinal (male)
Northern Cardinal (female)
Tufted Titmouse
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal (female)
I thought pretty!
A little bit later and this time properly dressed for outdoors, I was back outside and shoveled a path to the tree, cleared around it, and put out more bird seed. The birds were very happy. I know this because they were part of my entertainment that day!
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Wading Birds – #2
This past Sunday was cold and blustery on the remote Hooper Islands in the Chesapeake Bay in lower Dorchester County. Where the road starts coming to the end on Middle Hooper Island, there were several Great Blue Herons who had found refuge in an interior wetland area. They gave me such beautiful compositions to share with you.
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1-2-3 Cute As Can Be – #35
Can I charm you with some more of my daily adorable little birds? Four sparrows and one warbler, then ending with a surprise last bird.
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Savannah Sparrow
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Dark-eyed Junco
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Song Sparrow
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White-throated Sparrow
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Yellow-rumped Warbler
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And the surprise last bird is a rare Maryland sighting of a female Rufous Hummingbird!
You may know, the Rufous is a western North American hummingbird. Ebird records for the last one in our county was in 2016. Her location is a secret, and she is being taken well care of by the homeowner who has an awesome setup with four feeders heated with lamps.
And, she is a lifer for me! 🤗💃😊
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Rufous Hummingbird (female)
My Lifer #315
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I wasn’t allowed to approach the residence, so I photographed her from the street from my car window. It was a stretch, whew; but I saw her AND got several photos for my records. Woot!
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Icy Bay and River Scenes
Not too often does ice build up on the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. But it did just that two weeks ago, when much of our country was dealing with brutal cold, worse than normal.
There were reports of ice being 2-5 inches thick. Thankfully, it has since melted!
Here are some of my scenes taken two weeks ago.
Chesapeake Bay from Black Walnut Point, Tilghman Island
(diving ducks are waaaayyy out there, usually right up to the shoreline)
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Claiborne Landing Cove
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Knapps Narrows
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Turkey Creek
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Immature Bald Eagles in center of Choptank River
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On January 27, the U.S. National Ice Center released the following analysis of the ice concentration on the Chesapeake Bay, with ice 2-5 inches thick from the middle of the bay to the north.
Maryland’s DNR ice cutters were quite busy, trying to keep as many veins of water open. The U.S. Coast Guard reported at least 23 navigational aids were destroyed or off-station.
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One of our famous local photos recircling was taken during our winter freeze 1976-1977 where people actually walked and ice skated under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Some people at narrower bay locations were able to walk all the way across!
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Chesapeake Bay ice skating
(credit unknown)
I know I wouldn’t have chanced it too far out!
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Woodpecker Wednesday
The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is a North American woodpecker that breeds in Canada and upper northern U.S. from the east to the mid-west, and migrates to the east coast and lower mid-west and into Central America for its winter. I enjoy their fall to spring visit with us.
While out birding by car down a favorite dead-end back road last week, I stopped for this handsome fella working a tree.
The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is sized inbetween our Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers. The male is designated by a red throat.
It’s similar counterpart is the Red-naped Sapsucker who resides from the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker’s western region reach and west from there, with regions overlapping between the two species.
Length: 7.1-8.7 in (18-22 cm)
Weight: 1.5-1.9 oz (43-55 g)
Wingspan: 13.4-15.8 in (34-40 cm)
I enjoy their pop of color in our drab winter landscape!
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Five On The Wire – #17
Many of you know I am a fan for a bird on a wire or metal contraption, so my need for this series, ha! Here we go again, with five raptors taking advantage of their big 360 degrees view.
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Red-shouldered Hawk (adult)
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Red-shouldered Hawk (immature)
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Red-tailed Hawk (adult)
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Bald Eagle (immature)
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American Kestrel (male adult)
(looking cold!)
Duck Duck Goose – #2
Ready to play? It’s cold out there!
Mallards
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Long-tailed Duck
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Canada Geese
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Black Scoter
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Surf Scoter
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Cackling Goose (center) with Canada Geese
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Redheads
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Lesser Scaup
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Bufflehead
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Hooded Mergansers
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Finally, the ending goose!
Considered a rare sighting anywhere up and down the east coast, I happened upon a pair of Greater White-fronted Geese mixed in with a flock of Canada Geese while cutting across the back roads on my way home few days ago. What a treat!
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Greater White-fronted Geese
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Bay Photos by Donna 