Flock of Harlequin Ducks

 On the spur of the moment, I headed to Ferryland to see the snipe creating a lot of debate. It seems to be a Common Snipe, but definitive under wing shots have yet to prove it.

 Strange how sometimes, my car just keeps going. Once as far as Ferryland, I thought why not head to St. Vincent's and points in between.

 One of the stops I made was in St. Shotts. I was only able to go so far up the road to the lighthouse due to the low profile of my car. I pulled over and made the walk through the rock-solid snow blocking the road. Along the way, I wondered if it was going to be a good use of my time.

It was. I found a flock of eight beautiful Harlequin Ducks and one lone Harlequin in another area. This was the most I have ever seen, and they were stunning swimming in the calm, aqua waters. They were close to shore, but I opted not to go too close to the cliff's edge due to the ice all around.  Also and somewhat unexpected, I saw a number of Black-legged Kittiwake seemingly roosting on the nearby rocks. I guess it won't be too long before the Northern Gannets return to Cape St. Mary's. It is so nice to see all of these signs of spring surrounding us.

Dirty Duck

 It is easy to gaze out over all the diving ducks and overlook the unusual. After more than 30 minutes of looking, I spotted this odd Tufted Duck.

 It has all the markings of a male, but it has quite a brown chest. What? Even the duck is perplexed...

After a consultation, I agree it is most likely this is just a dirty duck. It is the only one like this. I can't help but wonder where it got all of this mess on its breast.

Celebrity Visitor

A rare Bearded Seal showed up in Quidi Vidi this week. It took a couple of days for the news to get out, but when it did, people hurried over to have a look.

 On January 12, 2015 a Bearded Seal was reported near Triton. Is this the same seal that has worked its way around the shoreline? Looking at the photos posted by Dennis Smeaton on Nature NL, I don't think so. The Triton seal seems to be much bigger than the QV seal.

 This arctic species most likely came in with the ice that is moving into the waters off Newfoundland.

 The white whiskers for which it is named seem to have a coating of ice on them. Being unfamiliar with this species, it is possible they are just that coarse.

 It was very comfortable in the area as it dove into the water and repeatedly climbed back up on the ice.

This one chose to languish dangerously close to a high-end restaurant that has seal on the menu:)

 Lurking along the edge of far-side rock was this super-sized Mink. It is the largest I have ever seen. I watched as it tripped its way across the thin ice next to the rock edge.

It also had a great winter coat which is also a first for me. I have only seen mink in the summer. This creature was large enough to ensure I would not want to approach it for better photos.

Banded Gulls

Numerous banded and tagged gulls have been seen and reported around St. John's. Most of the reports show up on the Discussion Group. Others do not. I don't think there is any local, centralized location that summarizes the sightings and details about the bird. This page is a start to try to maintain an accessible and thorough record of our reports. If anyone would care to submit a photo to be used where I don't have any available or have additional information about any of the banded gulls, please use the contact form on the right column of this site. I will add the information to the chart.

Banded/Tagged Bird	Details
Mew Gull: # 794-25822 silver tag	Seen by LdL at QV Lake, St. John's, NL on March 10, 2015.
This bird was tagged as a first-winter Mew on February 11, 2011 at QV Lake.	Another banded Mew Gull was seen on Nov. 21, 2013 by L. Chang.

Banded/Tagged Bird	Details
Herring Gull: # Wing Tag X29 - Leg Band #24	Seen by LdL at QV Lake, St. John's, NL on March 7, 2014.
This bird breeds in Witless Bay and was banded in July 2012

Banded/Tagged Bird	Details
Herring Gull: # Leg Band #29	Seen by LdL at QV Lake, St. John's, NL on March 10, 2015.
HATCHED IN 2010 OR EARLIER, Banded 11/23/2011.

This bird was also seen on Feb. March 15, 2014 at QV Lake by L. Chang.

Banded/Tagged Bird	Details
Herring Gull: # Leg Band 2A	Seen by LdL at QV Lake, St. John's, NL on March 8, 2015 with an injured right leg.

Banded/Tagged Bird	Details
Herring Gull: # Leg Band GV	Image provided by Lancy Chang. Seen by Lancy Chang at QV Lake, St. John's, NL in early March 2015 and reported to look healthy.
Hatched in 2000, banded in 2003 and is 2nd oldest record in Canada and 7th oldest in North America.

Banded/Tagged Bird	Details
Herring Gull: # Leg Band ZM	No Image. Banded in 2012 and last seen at QV Lake, St. John's, NL in 2013.
Was originally banded in 1998, making it about 15 years old.

Banded/Tagged Bird	Details
Iceland Gull: # Leg Band A4	Seen by LdL on Nov. 1, 2013 and again on March 10, 2015.
Was originally banded at Quidi Vidi Lake in November 2011.

Banded/Tagged Bird	Details
Iceland Gull: # Leg Band A8	Seen by Les Sweetapple at Mundy Pond on Dec. 22, 2012 and by Lancy Chang on December 18, 2012.
HATCHED IN 2011, Banded 01/06/2012.

Banded/Tagged Bird	Details
Iceland Gull: # Leg Band C8	Image by Les Sweetaple. Seen by Les Sweetapple at Mundy Pond on Dec. 3, 2014.
Banded on February 2, 2012 at QV Lake.

Banded/Tagged Bird	Details
Iceland Gull: # Leg Band E6	Image provided by Lancy Chang. Seen by LdL at QV Lake on Feb 3, 2013 and by Lancy Chang on January 27, 2014

Banded/Tagged Bird	Details
Iceland Gull: # Leg Band F5	No image. Seen by Gene Herzberg at QV Lake on January 7, 2014.

Banded/Tagged Bird	Details
Iceland Gull: # Leg Band F6	Seen by LdL at QV Lake on December 18, 2013 and again on January 15, 2015.

Banded/Tagged Bird	Details
Iceland Gull: # Leg Band H1	Seen by LdL on January 1, 2015 at QV Lake.

Banded/Tagged Bird	Details
Iceland Gull: # Leg Band H6	Seen by LdL on January 1, 2015 at QV Lake.

Banded/Tagged Bird	Details
Iceland Gull: # Leg Band J1	Seen by LdL on January 1, 2014 at QV Lake.

Banded/Tagged Bird	Details
Iceland Gull: # Leg Band K6	Seen by LdL at QV Lake on March 10, 2015.

Banded/Tagged Bird	Details
Iceland Gull: # Leg Band L0	Seen by LdL on March 10, 2015 at QV Lake.
Birds banded in the L series = L0, L1 and L2 were banded in St. John's in January 2014.

Banded/Tagged Bird	Details
Iceland Gull: # Leg Band CZ	Seen by LdL on March 10, 2015 at QV Lake.

Banded/Tagged Bird	Details
Iceland Gull: # Leg Band M5	Seen by LdL on March 11, 2015 at QV Lake.

Banded/Tagged Bird	Details
Great Black-backed Gull: # Leg Band HE	Image provided by Lancy Chang, seen on February 19, 2014. Later seen by LdL on March 22, 2014 at QV Lake.
Bird was banded in St. John's in 2011.

Tagging Up

 Birding around St. John's takes on something of a Winter pattern. By now, all birders know where our unusual birds are. In fact, they have become more like our Winter pets than vagrant birds. Making a visit to see these birds like this Pine Warbler, the Red-winged Blackbird (pictured below) and the Brown Thrasher has become a birding routine. You can't go to Cape Spear everyday...

 Today while visiting the Bowring Park mixed flock, I got a rare bonus. Pippin (the Pine Warbler) has made a lot of friends who come to his buffet regularly. (I have showcased many of little ones in a previous post.)

 The latest addition to the gang is a terrific, peanut butter-loving Brown Creeper. It showed up shortly after I arrived at the viewing station, which has actually become quite slippery from all of the viewers standing for long periods of time.

 There it was in full view! Who gets to look at a creeper like this? I am used to tracking them through thick cover all around and up and down a tree, never really getting a good chance to look at it.

 This bark-colored bird didn't mind four of us standing nearby. It was savoring every morsel of peanut butter it could lick off the tree.

 He was so happy he squealed!

 Having an "eye" that has a predisposition to horizontal rather than vertical, I have rotated two images to be able to study the pattern of this bird in a more familiar position.

 The longer he ate, the bigger the chunks of peanut butter he took.

 Grabbing a large piece for "take-out," it flew off toward the washrooms, leaving four birders very happy for the visit.

 Continuing my "tagging up," I headed to Cochrane Pond to have a look at the Red-winged Blackbird that has wintered there. It was in the same area, except on the opposite side of the road. Seeds had been spread there, and it seemed like a safer, more protected location.

 What do our Winter birds have in common? They eat... a lot. They have to in order to stave off the cold winter temperatures and winds. All of our visitors have received a lot of help from local birders to survive the harsh conditions to which they are unaccustomed.

Leaving Goulds, I headed to Long Pond to see the Brown Thrasher. I didn't stay very long. As a result, I didn't see it today, but it has been seen by others and seems to be thriving.  And ...so it goes...the need to see woodland birds has been fulfilled...for a while at least.

Whoosh!

 It was a calm morning at Quidi Vidi Lake with only a few gulls, less ducks and the usual complement of pigeons. It was ideal for viewing the few birds that were present. Ah ... my favorite way to study birds.

 Then, out of nowhere the calm was shattered as this hungry Peregrine Falcon blew in. It came in low from around the boat house and headed directly for the birds lolling around on the west end.

 It gained altitude and flew right into the foray of birds scrambling for safety.

All of a sudden it pulled up as if to decide which one it wanted.

With purpose it flew right into the pigeon flock.  What a flutter!

It twisted and turned in every possible way trying to pick one bird out of the many.

 Wow! Wow! I could hardly keep the camera on the predator as the crazy scene unfolded. All the time I was wondering if it was going to snag one.

 The pigeons proved to be too much for the falcon on this effort. They got away and split off in several directions. The falcon, somewhat dejected, gave up and flew off over the cemetery.

As soon as it disappeared, over 100 starlings dislodged from their nearby roost and headed out of the neighborhood. What a rush! Then, within minutes everything settled back down again as if nothing had ever happened.