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A Rare Bird

Yesterday I had the, ummm, privilege of being called for jury duty. I have thoughts on that to share with you all but for today I want to share something more exciting. Pictures of a male king eider in the Cape Cod Canal.

He’s been seen regularly there for the past couple of weeks and Dale and I stopped and looked for him last Friday on our way to Doreen and Mark’s. We didn’t see him that day, which was a bummer.

After I was dismissed from jury duty yesterday I called Dale and said, “should I go look for the king?” He said YES. I was only about 15 minutes away and so off I went. And after a quick walk along the canal I spotted him in a large group of common eiders.

I took 76 pictures of him but today I’m only sharing five. Aren’t you glad?

It’s uncommon for the king eider to be spotted in our area and he’s been attracting a lot of attention and visitors. He’s a beautiful and perfect specimen of his species and, as my brother-in-law Randy says, he’s pretty easy to find with that big knob on his head. In other words, he sticks out like a sore thumb.

Or, as another birder said to me yesterday, he’s all over Facebook.  Of course I added my photos to that collection even if they aren’t as close up and amazing as some of the ones taken with better telephoto lenses than I have.

You can read more about the king eider here. And here.

I’m really glad I got the opportunity to see this beautiful bird.

This Post Has 20 Comments

  1. He is magnificent! I love to see the beautiful creatures and hope that we find a way to protect them for all future generations.

  2. Oh, COOL!!! What a stunning bird! I’m so glad you stopped — and that you shared your photos with us.

  3. I was just fascinated when I saw him in your IG stream. What an amazing bird. Probably a far more attractive sight than most of humanity you saw trudging through the court house. We humans think we are so special.

  4. PS. Any day you go to a courthouse and are not personally involved in the proceedings is a better day than it could be. As one attorney friend likes to observe.

  5. I’m sorry you had to endure (maybe enjoy?) jury duty first, but he really does look royal! Thanks for sharing!

  6. This is the best! (I showed Doug from IG or FB last night!) So glad you were able to cross his path and show him to us!

  7. What a glorious creature! Thanks for sharing your beautiful photos. Jury duty — I keep getting called/summoned…and then never have to show up – YAY!!

  8. How does a duck know it’s a duck when it looks so different from the other ducks?

  9. Fascinating! Have never ever seen one up close and personal. Thanks for the beautiful shots.
    Cheers~

  10. Thank you for sharing your bird with all of us. I love watching the birds that I can attract to by backyard (well except the cowbirds and starlings that eat everything in a few hours) in Missouri. It’s so nice to find an unusual bird. Glad you were able to find him again.

  11. Oh my – he’s beautiful and perhaps surprisingly graceful. I’m so glad you got to see him … and share him with us!

  12. He is lovely much like the guys who have the lush thick eyelashes [somethings are just not fair!]

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