Saturday, December 21, 2013

Common Eider Visiting Sanibel

Saturday, December 21st


Common Eider seen on the Sanibel Causeway
Photo courtesy of Bob Pelkey

Our little corner of Florida is an excellent place for birding.  We have the sea shore, swamps, marshes and woodland environments. Sometimes we get that special uncommon or rare bird sighting. Last spring we a nice Eurasian Widgeon spend several weeks on a small pond in Cape Coral. We could add the Razerbill invasion last winter as well. 
Currently a young female Common Eider (284) has settled-in along the Sanibel Causeway. This is very unusual to have these ducks so far south of their normal wintering zone. So Bob Pelkey and I headed over yesterday and succeeded in locating her just before dusk. A Lifer for both of us and for many other observers. 

Bob hard at work observing the eider