Irish Loop April 21, 2015 Harlequin Ducks, Snowy Owl

[Frank KING]

I had another great trip around the Irish Loop on April 21st. The weather was sunny and the wind was northerly. It made for an interesting trip. I did not see the Sapsucker in St. Mary's but Mr. Dillon informed me today that it is still there.

There was virtually nothing at Point La Haye, which I presume was to do with the direction of the wind.

At. St. Shott's the Harlequin Ducks were still there and close to shore below the lighthouse. I thought the Common Eider had all but disappeared as there were only a few near the lighthouse. However, there must have been well over 1000 and perhaps even 2000 off the northern point of St. Shott's. The Herring Gulls and Ring-billed Gulls look like they are setting up nesting on the rocks below the lighthouse.

Trepessey had a few birds at the beach but for the most part they kept well off shore. The Red-throated Loon was still there, along with a few Long-tailed Ducks and the Common Loon.

At Biscay Bay there was a spectacular sight of a 1000+ Long-tailed Ducks. They kept well off shore and in the middle of the bay. They were difficult to see with he binoculars. the bay was very calm with only a slight ripple on the water. The sun caused a lot of reflection of light which made the Ducks even more difficult to see, until they all flew. It was quite a spectacle to see all these birds appearing out of the water.

I took a trip out to Cape Race where there is always something exciting to see. The Red-necked Grebe are still at the Drook along with a few Black Guillemot, a Red-throated Loon and a couple of Common Loons. I was very lucky to see two snowy owls along the road to the Cape.

You can check out the numbers and a few photos at eBird
St. Shott's http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23001774
Biscay Bay http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23002116
Cape Race http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S23002485