Down by the Baie

Ruddy Duck Oxyura jamaicensis

Muskrat...I mean Ruddy Duck

Redhead Aythya americana

Northern Shoveler Anas clypeata

Ring-necked Duck Aythya collaris

Gadwall Anas strepera

Black Tern Chlidonias niger

Black Tern Chlidonias niger

Just a Black Tern doing Black Tern things

Caspian Tern Hydroprogne caspia
(Honestly...)

Tree Swallow Tachycineta bicolor

Young, confusing Tree Swallows - change my mind!
The ruddy one on the left is weird, for sure...

Young Tree Swallows show a faint
(Bank Swallow-esque) breast band and a white throat...

Common Gallinule Gallinula galeata

Marbled Godwit Limosa fedoa

(Note the Marsh Wren song at 0:04)

Baie-du-Febvre, June 20, 2022

  Drove out Baie-de-Febvre on the weekend with Lead-foot George and Raf, in search of a couple of rare shorebirds. The bird of the day for me was the surprise Ruddy Duck at the water treatment pond. I guess I’d never seen a male in breeding plumage like that, but I was blown away. That’s a helluvan amazing Technicolor dream-bird. It reminded me of a Muskrat when it dove. It was also a treat to get close looks at some of the other waterfowl that had assembled there, including Redhead, Northern Shoveler, and Ring-necked Duck.

  Some young hirundines preening on a roof showed an interesting variety of confusing plumages, from a Bank Swallow-esque dark breast band, to decidedly Barn Swallowy rusty underparts (Pretty sure some folks were mistakenly listing Bank Swallows on eBird because of these birds). Online, it was suggested they were young Rough-winged Swallows. OK…then why do they both have white throats? I believe them to be young Tree Swallows. Why is one of them rusty? Couldn’t tell you. If you have an alternate ID for these birds, please leave a comment.

  The target rarities were almost an afterthought, in my mind. The Black-necked Stilt was just a blurry fever dream, shimmering on the horizon through the scope. The Marbled Godwit was cool to watch, as it strutted through a flooded farm field at a leisurely pace.

  To add fuel to George’s contention that I don’t know how to use my camera, I did make a notable gaffe when it came time to get a pic of the Marbled Godwit. I tried to photograph the full moon the other night, and I left my settings on…’nocturnal.’ I was so dozy when it came time to prepare my camera bag for the trip, I forgot to check the settings. So the record shots of the Marbled Godwit came out more like police artist’s sketches than photos. Oh well, I’m no photographer, never claimed to be.

  As always, I enjoyed watching terns in action. It was mostly Black Terns, swooping the swamps, as well as a distant Caspian Tern out by the trailer park area. Terns out I probably captured a ridiculous 4-pixel-wide image of a Bonaparte's Gull in the background of one of the Caspian Tern record shots. The day ended with 59 or so species, and one moving violation.