Red-necked Phalaropes

Today out at Mt. Desert Rock we encountered a massive raft of about 17,000 -20,000 Red-necked phalaropes. Here are some fairly poor images that show only a fraction of the birds present. It was quite the spectacle. Also seen on the boat ride: Arctic Tern, Atlantic Puffin, Razorbill, Common Murre, Jeager sp., Sooty Shearwater, Merlin, and over 350 Wilsons Storm-Petrel. A great day out on the boat!

Bar Harbor: Glaucous Gull (5/11)

Here are some pics of a Glaucous Gull that I found feeding on the mudflats right at the head of the island. The bird was visible from the causeway but i got better looks (and these photos) from hiking down onto the mudflats a little ways.

Glaucous Gull on MDI

I discovered this 1st/2nd year Glaucous Gull at the Causway Club in Southwest Harbor around 10:30 on 4/5/08.

Pacific Loon?... It's a Common Loon

Thanks to the response of several experienced birders it has been determined that the photos below depict a common loon.

A couple days ago i went out looking for the Pacific Loon that had been reported on Park Loop road in Bar Harbor. There were 6 loons present and i studied them all extensively. One loon stood out to me as beeing a little smaller more petite looking, however after a few minutes i concluded it was just a small, odd common loon. I did take a bunch of photos of this loon and now upon review, i'm considering that perhaps it is indeed a Pacific. Any thoughts on the ID of this bird would be appreciated. You can email me at surfbird@wildmail.com or tschottland@coa.edu

Hoary Redpoll

After seeing the Great Gray Owl in Jackson, I went looking for a Hoary Redpoll that has been visiting a feeder at house in Ellsworth, ME... and I was successful! Chad Propst and I observed the Hoary Redpoll at a distance of about 10 feet. Then it flew off and landed in a tree at which time i got these photos. In the two photos you can make out the small pointy bill, limited streaking on flanks, limited/no streaking on the under-tail coverts and you can barely make out the clean white rump in the first photo.


You know you've had a great day birding when you see a Great Gray Owl and Hoary Redpoll within a couple hours of each other! (For photos of the Great Gray Owl scroll down from the hoary redpoll photos).

Great Gray Owl

Here are some digi-scoped images taken of the Great Gray Owl in Jackson, ME. It showed beautifully for a large number of birders who made the drive to see this bird. What a beauty!
You can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

1st year mystery gull

Photo taken at Schoodic fish factory.
As soon as I saw this bird flying over my immediate reaction was Lesser-black-backed gull (LBBG) . It had a small all black bill and was about the same size as the nearby herring gull. It never landed but i did manage to get these two photo's using ditial camera and holding it up to my binoculars.
I would love feedback on the ID of this bird.