Another cold day at the Two Mile beach today, a good day for shorbirds but with one sad note. Here are the high and low lights:
-another thousand shorebirds (conservative estimate), all Dunlins and Sanderlings; -33 Piping Plovers, a new personal high for me. Will any stick around and nest? -a nice group of Gannets dive-bombing offshore; -a pair of Harlequin ducks (below) off the jetty, accompanied by hundreds of Surf and Black Scoters; -a pair of white-tailed deer near the visitor's center; -sadly, I spotted a Surf Scoter sitting on the beach, alive but obviously sick and unable to fly. By the time I got to it, it had died. A beautiful bird even in death (see above).
Harlequin Duck (center surrounded by Surf Scoters. (photo by author)
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