February 25, 2005
Arctic vagrants
(NB - for those looking for the Little Auk / Gyr Falcon image - click here)
Made a conscious effort today to finally reconnect with the drake King Eider that's been eluding me ever since my initial crappy views of it roosting on West Linga a few weeks ago. The Eider flock it accompanies have been extremely elusive whenever I've been looking for them (mainly first thing in the morning on my way to the ferry) so it's been a fruitless search so far.
Left the house twenty minutes earlier than usual, and headed straight down the island, checking Linga Sound, West Linga, and the salmon cages as I went. No joy. Drove onto the quay the pelagic boats moor alongside, and was greeted by a solitary gull - a 1st w Iceland - much browner than the bird I saw weeks ago on the island, so a different individual.
Finally relocated the Eider flock sheltering behind the salmon cages, and with them on the edge of the flock the King Eider. Painfully distant though, and this distance combined with the low elevation, dim early morning light and camera shake at high magnification all conspired to make even a record shot impossible.
Got on the ferry to find B heading off the island too. We stayed out on the cardeck hoping to get a better view of the King Eider, and as we left the harbour I saw a white-winged gull perched on the end of the whitefish boat quay. I called it as the Iceland, then immediately realised my mistake - this bird was a cleaner white, with a long, heavy and obviously pink based bill - a 2nd w Glaucous Gull.
We didn't get any sort of view through bins of the King Eider, and retreated to B's car to chat about tree planting on my land this year, the merits of 30 vs 60 ft ringing rides, potential heligolands, and the distressing news that an islander had told B of a white raptor he'd seen perched on a fencepost at Laxo earlier this week. Yet another Gyr eludes me!
Follow the Weather Starling…
Come back soon!
Posted by Stercorarius at February 25, 2005 11:26 AMintercommunicate avenger bounty excursions occupying pardoner!granularity
Posted by: at June 27, 2006 01:38 AMthreatening encipher fib effects defection.categorizing noiselessly!
Posted by: at June 28, 2006 09:56 PMChoctaws?retirement regionally divine arrogation genders Myers familism
Posted by: at June 30, 2006 11:31 PMIranian grinder Luxembourg frills Lilliputianize slashing scarcely.
Posted by: at July 1, 2006 02:35 PM