Finally caught up with
Snowy Owl on Jones' Beach this morning. The recent thaw made me think they might have moved north already, and I'd given up for the winter. I was delighted therefore to find a fantastic adult male sitting on the beach.
Other birds at the beach included several hundred
Long-tailed Duck just off-shore, with even more flying past heading west. Also flying past were
Black Scoter, with small numbers of
White-winged Scoter and
Surf Scoter. A juvenile
Glaucous Gull was a nice surprise.
Adult male
Snowy Owl. Wow, just....wow.
I dipped one of these in Skegness in January 1991. I'm sure there are British birders out there who know exactly the bird I mean. It's been a long wait, but worth it for this fantastic view.
A week ago this entire beach was covered in snow, and this bird would have been nigh on invisible.
Several small flocks of
Black Scoter flying westwards just offshore.
I counted 620
Long-tailed Duck flying west in about half an hour.
Common Loon.
Brilliant! I got the skeggy bird ;-)
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