House Sparrows (Male)

 This is the time of the year when every small bird requires a second look. It turned out that this closer look yielded a small flock of House Sparrow on a shoreline road between Harbour Grace and Spaniard's Bay.

House Sparrows have been around all summer but all of a sudden there seem to be more. Perhaps that is because there are so fewer other birds to focus on.

Common or not it is always a pleasure to stop and appreciate every species along the way.  I wonder if the sense of appreciation with wan with time.  Some how, I really don't think so.

Two Wierd Ducks

 Hanging with the Brant Goose in Harbour Grace were two wierd ducks.  At first I thought they were the Gadwall (maybe two) that had been sighted earlier but a closer look debunked that idea.

They both have similar markings but they don't look exactly the same.  They both have a black rump, head markings similar to an American Wigeon but not the right colors, and yellow bills.

Their back and wing feathers are similar to a wigeon.

I included this picture of an American Wigeon for comparison.

 These images of one of the ducks flapping its wings provide a good look at the wing markings while the other duck remains tucked in not really showing itself well.

It was speculated that these hybrid birds may be a combination of American Wigeon and Mallard.  This was deduced from the wigeon-like
field markings and the mallard-like yellow beak. There were two American Wigeons in nearby waters but I didn't see a Mallard any where around. There is no doubt that these two ducks will turn heads throughout the remainder of their lifetime.

Be sure to click on an image to enlarge it so that you can get a better look at the markings.

Common Merganser

 As you may have gathered by now my camera was loaded with pictures taken on November 11, 2011.  Many people felt lucky-in-love and got married on that date. Others like me chose to spend the day with a favorite pass time, birding. It did turn out to be a lucky day for me.

After seeing more birds than anticipated at Harbour Grace, my friend and I drove back toward St. John's via the scenic route. Along the way we stopped at Clarke's Beach and I got my best look at a lone Common Merganser swimming relatively close to shore.  This is one of those birds that typically stays out of camera range and as soon as they see a person along the shoreline, they slowly but steadily move farther away.

This was not the case last Friday.  This single Common Merganser may have been in the area a while and developed a sense of confidence around people because while it was not close to shore it was closer than usual.

We had a great chance to look at it as it swam in the sunlight and stayed in the area.

Further up the inlet we found two Red-breasted Mergansers that were exhibiting more typical behaviour.  They really didn't want to come close at all. Nevertheless, they were close enough for us to compare the two species.  Having seen them together like this for the first time really helped me to distinguish their differences.

Every little encounter such as this continues to layer on experience that will be useful in identifying birds in the future. As a birder I can never get too much experience.

Viewing Sea Birds

 Harbour Grace yielded several special birds last Friday but the real challenge came when trying to view two sea birds, the Red-necked Grebe and the Surf Scoter. 

See the little speck in the middle of this image....that is the Red-necked Grebe.  It was spotted even farther away by two birders with scopes. The group moved as close to the bird as possible and this was it.

Without a good scope it would have been impossible to see this bird well. Thank goodness for the sharing nature of birders as my friend and I were able to see this bird quite well.

 By cropping the above picture, this is the best shot that I could get of the grebe. I wouldn't have even been able to identify the bird with this image. I'm sure that other better versed birders would have though.

 Once again the scope did the job. This Surf Scoter near the bow of the boat was identified right away and we all had an opportunity to take a look.  There is a real skill involved in using a scope.  I marvel at those who can spot a bird at such a distance and then set the scope on it. Because of the distance the bird will often remain in the view finder for quite a while allowing others to have the opportunity to look.

This enlargement is the best that I was able to get with my camera. 

More on a scope:  I have difficulty seeing through some binoculars and scopes.  I don't know what it is but I have tried to use a preferred birder pair of binoculars but I absolutely cannot see anything.  That is often the case with a scope.  I guess like everything practice is required and I may need to work at that as most sea birds are quite far from shore.