Common Eider
“On June 14 there were 52 Common Eiders in Pond Cove including a dozen ducklings each accompanied by several adult females.”
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In his words
Ten of the 16 passages, oldest first.
Harlequin Ducks (Two Lights and Fort Williams, Common Eiders, at least one King Eider (Dyer Point), Black and White-winged Scoters (Crescent Beach), Pintails (Ferry Beach), Red-breasted Mergansers, Red-necked Grebes, and numerous Common Loons.
Speaking of ducks, fair numbers of Black and White-winged Scoters, Long-tailed, aka “Oldsquaw’s”, Common Loons and Eiders can still be seen without too much effort off Crescent Beach and rocky bluffs along Fort Williams State Park.
A female Common Eider teaching a gaggle of chicks to dive for crustaceans, several Swamp Sparrow fledglings - Song Sparrow and Chickadee fledglings are out and about as well.
On February 10, Three Common Goldeneyes and a couple Common Eider hens were spotted off Pond Cove.
On June 14 there were 52 Common Eiders in Pond Cove including a dozen ducklings each accompanied by several adult females.
Other mentionables include: A female Common Eider teaching a gaggle of chicks to dive for crustaceans, several Swamp Sparrow fledglings - a Red bellied Woodpecker with three young continuing to devour our suet and Song Sparrow, Titmice and Chickadee fledglings are out and about as well.
As for the coastline there were forty or more Common Eiders working the exposed, rough conditions, a couple pairs of Buffleheads, a single Surf Scoter, three Long-tailed Ducks, two Black Guillemots, and four Harlequin Ducks.
Other birds spotted while in Two Lights include Common Terns, Common Eiders, Ring-billed and Great-black backed Gulls, a Least Sandpiper fly through, a single Osprey and several Gray Catbirds.
On the morning of February 7, the following birds were seen along our coastline between Kettle Cove and the far fringes of Crescent Beach State park – a solitary Northern Mockingbird guarding his Winterberry throne, a Herring Gull pilfering a Common Eiders hard earned meal (a mussel), two diving Horned Grebes…
Later that same day on Trundy Point I spotted three Common Goldeneyes, the aforementioned Black Guillemot, two Harlequin Ducks, Common Eiders, a Common Loon, Black and Surf Scoters (aka skunk-headed coots) and nineteen Purple Sandpipers.
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Also, just offshore were significant numbers of foraging Black Scoters and Common Eiders, several Red-breasted Mergansers (merganser in Latin roughly translates to “plunging goose”) and a pair of Common Goldeneye ducks.
In the last days of February off of Dyer Point, Trundy Point, Pond Cove and Fort Williams I saw the following - Common Loons, Common Eiders, Harlequin Ducks, Long-tailed Ducks, Common Goldeneyes, Black and Surf Scoters and Red-breasted Mergansers.
On the late afternoon of May 7 along Pond Cove I was listening to the pleasant cooing calls coming from a gathering of Common Eiders just offshore when I noticed two rather small birds hunkered down on a nearby rock.
Common Eiders rafted up just offshore while Northern Gannets plunged into the choppy surf offshore.
Additionally, on February 10 from Two Lights State Park I noted eight Long-tailed Ducks, several dozen Common Eiders and White-winged Scoters and a single Black Guillemot.
Other highlights at Two Lights included large offshore rafts of Black Scoters, Common Eiders and Long-tailed Ducks yodeling.