January 11, 2010 Newfoundland birding

Our first taste of Newfoundland winter birding was great! After arriving mid afternoon we quickly made our way to one of the local birding hot spots "Quidi Vidi Lake" in St. John's. At this location, there were hundreds of gulls mainly Iceland "Kumliens" Gulls resting along the shore and on the lake. The variety of gulls was also impressive, including Glaucous, Lesser Black-backed, Great Black-backed, Herring, Ring-billed along with a small number of Black-headed Gulls resting on the water. A large group of ducks were feeding along the edge of the shoreline, including Northern Pintail, American Black Duck, Mallards, and no shortage of hybrids. A quick scan over the lake produced 21 TUFTED DUCKS in a flock- an incredible sight! The Tufted Duck has been increasing over the past 5 years, and is now a regular winter visitor. With light fading, we made our way to St. John's Harbour. Here we viewed, 1000+ Iceland Gulls, of varying ages and 30+ Black-headed Gulls at the sewer outlet. A wonderful start for the trip.

A small flock of Tufted Ducks including 2 immature male and 1 female.

This male Tufted Duck had an impressive "tuff"!

A flock of Greater Scaup were also observed on Q.V. Lake.

Over the past decade the number of wintering Northern Pintail has increased in St. John's.

The Iceland "Kumliens" Gull was the most common gull in St. John's. We saw 1000's!