Got back from our second week in Maine.
The week was mostly ocean birds.
Only two mammals. This red squirrel was chattering at me from the tree in the field in front of the house.
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One late Afternoon it must have been a hundred large dragonflies that invaded the yard by the house. It was pretty amazing but hard to take photos of them. Imagine dragonflies of this density filling up a whole yard. There must have been at least 100.
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This tiny toad was on the house. It is only about a centemeter long.
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The Common Eiders are back in large numbers. There was a fleet in the bay in front of the house. Strange how they like to all be in a row.
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Zoom in a bit. All going to the right now.
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A common Loon also out in the bay in front of the house.
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A crow in a field.
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Not a good photo but a Harbor Seal in the bay in front of the house.
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We went to the beach and there was a pool of water isolated from the rest of the brackish lagoon by the lack of rain. The boys rescued this fish and and let it go. This is only the front 15% of the fish. It more resembles an eel but is a fish that will borrrow into the sand to escape preditors.
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A ring bill gull at the beach.
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A black Guillemot in the background and a juvenile (I think) gull in the forground also at the beach.
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This was not a week for great blue herons. I got this photo at mud creek. Not much happening at mud creek either.
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Off shore at the house a loon. This one still in breeding plumage.
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A cormorant at the harbor.
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Same cormorant from a different angle
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Over at the Schoodic Section of Acadia National Park some semilamated plovers.
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At Schoodic point a large flock of Common Eiders. There was a heavy surf warning from the huricane that had passed several hundred miles out at sea. The Eiders stayed just outside of the breakers.
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Every now and then a breaker would come behind the birds. When that happens the bird, which is a diver which swims underwater to catch food, will dive right into the rising wave and pop out the other side in back.
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I believe that this is a tern. Bad photo.
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An Eider has food. Probably a green crab.
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A Least Sandpiper on the rocks above a tidal pool.
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We went to Acadia on Mount Desert Island at Eagle lake and saw this family of Common Mergansers. One is the mother with three juveniles.
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I worked my way around the other side for a photo from the back. Strong back legs for diving and chasing fish which is what they mainly eat, much like the common Loon.
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Very sharp teeth for catching those fish!
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They eventually got tired of me being around and swam off. Note that they float rather low in the water.
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For reasons I don't yet know, common Mergansers sometimes really motor along. I have seen them do this before.
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It's really a strange sight to see this duck, and it is a duck, seriously motoring such that they actually lift up and skim the water much like a speed boat will do!
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This duck was probably going at least 12 miles an hour for at least a hundred yards like this. Why it chooses to motor along instead of fly I don't know. But it seems to do it with ease. It must be amazing underwater.
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