Photos: Thick-billed Murre -- a super rarity that is rarely seen from shore during the winter.
Ring-billed Gull -- this photo was taken while the bird was washing in a pond at Eagles Nest Golf Course.
Great Cormorant -- taken at Ocean City Inlet
Horned Grebes -- taken in West Ocean City
On the 21 of February word got around on the birding circuit that a Thick-billed Murre was regularly being seen in a small canal in West Ocean City. With much frustration I knew that I would have to wait until Saturday morning to chase the murre. I had never seen a Thick-billed Murre which just added to my anxiety that the bird wouldn't be there on Saturday. Friday evening I began receiving phone calls from my friends that they were watching the murre and it was only twenty feet away! Thick-billed Murres belong to the Alcid family which includes the more well known puffins. In North America they breed in northern Canada and Greenland. During the winter months they spend all their time at sea. So having a Thick-billed Murre regularly seen from land is an exceptional phenomenon. Friday night before I went to sleep I sent out all the positive mojo I could muster towards Ocean City and it worked. Saturday morning while photographing Ruddy Turnstones at the inlet the Thick-billed Murre flew in the inlet and swam back to its old haunt in the canal in West OC. There were many birders present and it was great to get a new life bird and share the comraderie of the moment with everyone else. The day was full of surprises. While searching for the murre, Hans Holbrook gave me a call and told me that there was a Harbor Seal sitting up on the flats in Assawoman Bay. The seal was real far away so a great photo was out of the question but I'm happy with my pic. After the seal it was time to chase two Red-necked Grebes that were being seen amongst the shrimp boats tied up at the West OC workboat docks. When we arrived the two grebes were feeding under the docks and allowed Hans and myself to get some nice photos. After photographing the Red-necked Grebes we went back out and photographed a Harlequin Duck that was feeding underneath the Ocean City Fishing Pier. Harlequin Ducks used to be regular at Ocean City Inlet but for the past five years or so they have been strangely absent except for a few scattered reports. So catching a photo of a Harlequin was a great boost for the big year. Other new photos for the day included a Tricolored Heron and a Red-breasted Merganser that we spooked while photographing the Red-necked Grebes. After eating a fine lunch at Plaza Tapatia Tom Fields and myself went to the Eagles Nest Golf Course to see if we could get better photos of the Eurasian Wigeon that has been there all winter. The wigeon was swimming on the other end of the pond so my photos were just as distant as the ones I took back in January but I did get a few neat pictures of Ring-billed Gulls washing in the pond. Tom and I then headed to the Wicomico landfill to try once again for the Glaucous Gull that seems to have been there all winter. We were feeling real good about the chase because Bill Hubick had seen the gull earlier in the morning. It was 4:30pm by the time Tom and I hit the landfill and once again I struck out. We did pick out an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull which was a nice rarity to add to the day.
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