King Eider – # 236 Ottawa

Posted on November 13, 2013 by birdquest2004

This morning I got a call from a good friend that 4 King Eiders were being seen at Andrew Hayden Park.  As these are birds I’d never seen in Ottawa, off I went.  The last sighting was in 1993 good bird to try and see.

Just as I arrived at the parking lot 3 of the Eiders lifted off and headed south.  Eiders are unmistakable in flight, darn, at least they waited for me.

I saw one lone scope in the distance and figured it would be a good place to start looking.

I met up with Brian who had originally found the Eiders and he pointed me in the right direction to see and hopefully get a photo of the last one.

The bird was swimming towards Ottawa beach but constant harassment from a Black-backed Gull forced it to fly back to Graham Bay.

It gave me a perfect but distant broadside flight shot. These flight images show the upper and lower wing patterns.

FemaleKingEiderFlight2

FemaleKingEiderFlight1

Catching up to it near the entrance to Graham Creek it gave me a perfect close broadside….a lovely female Eider.

FemaleKingEider2

FemaleKingEider1

Someday it will be a male I hope, the composite image below , shows just how lovely the male of this species is.

KingEiderBB

Thanks Brian Morin for a great find and thanks Bruce my friend, for the heads up.

Ciao for now…..

Posted in Birds, Ottawa Birds | 1 Comment

Ross’s Gull / Mouette Rosée – 2013

Posted on November 11, 2013 by birdquest2004

Quebec has been phenomenal this year, in 2013 there’s been a Barnacle Goose, Garganey, Lapwing, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and now a Ross’s Gull.

The Ross’s Gull on every birders wish list, a bird of the far north and Siberia.  The only known nesting site is believed to be near Churchill, Manitoba.  It is believed to winter at sea.  Seeing one is very rare.

After hearing about the Gull on Saturday while I was a work and suffering through a 12 hour shift on Sunday.  I just couldn’t wait any longer, I really wanted to see this bird.

After talking with Langis Sirois last night, I thought my chances of seeing this bird in the morning would be slim.  Rick Poulin and I left from Ottawa at 5am and arrived at the Fort in Chambly by 7:10am.  We both hoped the bird might be around but seeing no one in the parking lot we thought our chances were slim.

The high winds forced us to find shelter behind the fort and glass from there, bare eyed I could see small gulls but what a thrill it was when Rick said “I see Pink”.

Rick and I have gotten each bird this year, a great team.  Thanks my friend.  We’re two happy, cold birder as shown below.

IMG_0155

I took a few photos at a fairly long distance, then at 8:15am the bird lifted off and disappeared out on the lake.

Below is the best one…Ross’s Gull, bird 669 – Birdquest), 626 – ABA

Ross'sGullBlog

Ciao for now

Posted in Birds, Trips | 2 Comments