Saturday, August 18, 2018

Aug 17, trip to Seal, & coopers Hawk on Green's

Aug 17, morning trip to Seal Island
species list:
Razorbill, Cory's Shearwater, Greater Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Cormorant, Eider,  Black Guillemot, Ring-billed Gull, Red Knot, Semi-palmated Plover, Spotted Sandpiper, least sandpiper, Rudy Turnstone, Herring Gull, Laughing Gull, Black-backed Gull, Puffins,
Common Tern, Arctic Tern.

And: Grey Seals, Harbor Seals, Sunfish.


Razorbills, molted flight feathers on at least one of those streaching

this years laughing gull
sooty  shearwater
Red Knots and Rudy Turnstones
Knots and Turnstones


Rudy Turnstone, and several Red Knots

 Grey Seal, western Head of Seal Island
 At The Shag Roost Seal Island this years Great Cormorant, indicating dispersal commencing.
 Mix of adult and this years Great Cormorant on the western head
 Big Sunfish, thanks Steve
Cory's Shearwater
 Ring-billed Gull

Coopers hawk on Green's I was alerted to its presence because it flew into a window upstairs

 it went and landed in an oak tree I had planted.
This bird was fairly large, I think it a cooper because the bands on the tail do not appear to be edged with white.


August 16, Trip to Seal in the morning, Skua, grand larson,

August 16,  Skua, grand larson,

Aug 16, species list: Great Blue Heron, Greater Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater, Gannet, Red-necked Phalerope, Wilson's Petrel, Puffin, Common Tern, Arctic Tern, South Polar Skua, Black Guillemot, Great Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Eider, Laughing Gull, Rudy Turnstone, Sanderling, Spotted Sandpiper, least Sandpiper, Gannets, Bald Eagles.

Also: Porpoise, Harbor Seals, Grey Seals, Minke whales, 2,


Great blue Heron,

I saw this bird flying a ways off, luckily it landed and we caught up with it.

birds uniformly dark above as is this bird, are judged to be from the Antarctic population, called South Polar Skua, not quite as large or blunt winged as the Faroese Bonxie, (Great Skua) which are more likely seen in  the Gulf of Maine during fall or winter.
Short tail is wedge shaped
I had never seen a bird from this genus in Maine before, Catharacta,  
I guess they have been relegated to the genus Stercorarius, with the rest of the Skuii, aka jaegars, which  is no disgrace but still they seem worthy of their own Genus.


Red-necked Phalerope



Black guillemot, red rock Eel
Puffin
Sanderling
Great and Double-crested Cormorant
Grey Seals sw breaker

Grey Seals, and Cormorants
Sooty shearwater
Shunty Otter Island
Eagle on Otter
Valerian on Roberts Island

August 14, to Brimstone twice

August 14,    to Brimstone twice,

 Fulmar off Otter Island
 Gimme a Hulla near the heel tap
 Peregrine, imm female, straffeing young herring gulls on Little Roberts in the fog.
 2018 black-backed gull
 molting male Harlequin duck
 Harlequin at little Robertts
Harlequin in the water off Little Robert's


August 13, Great Horned Owl

August 13,


 a Great Horned owl on the edge of the just mowed field, voleing.