It’s amazing what you can find if you just drive around a bit and stop at some of the “hot spots” looking for birds. We saw this Belted Kingfisher flying back and forth from pole to pole looking for that perfect fish in the water.
It was a bit far away, but I really liked the composition of the photograph. What do you think?
I kept looking at this sea bird in the water as we walked along Coast Guard Beach. It was pretty far out and looked like it was black, but every once in a while, I could see a bit of orange and white. (Click on blog link for other photo.)
As it swam closer to shore I could see that it was indeed a Surf Scoter. What a gorgeous bird! Look at those colors on its head and bill.
Have you ever seen a Surf Scoter? I really liked the many reflections in the water of its head in the 2nd photograph. What do you think?
It was such a surprise to see this Common Goldeneye swimming with a flock of Common Mergansers. He was just beautiful.
A Common Goldeneye is a medium-sized duck with white-striped black upperparts and white underparts. His head is irredescent green-black with a white circular patch between its yellow eyes and dark gray bill.
Have you ever seen a Common Goldeneye?
I had taken a walk to Boat Meadow Beach to see if there was anything “exciting” to photograph. And there, in one of the little tidal ponds in the salt marsh, were 5 of these birds. I wasn’t sure what they were as they looked more like summer shorebirds than birds I would see in the winter. (Click on blog link to see other photograph.)
I was so surprised when I got home and put my photographs up on the computer and realized that yes, they were Greater Yellowlegs. It wasn’t until one of them walked up by the grass that you could see his bright yellow legs. Wow!
According to my Checklist of Cape Cod Birds, Great Yellowlegs are rare but regular this time of the year and usually hard to find. How cool is that!
