Another Point Roberts Sunday

I may be wearing out the readers with posts from Point Roberts, but cheap gas takes me there every weekend. I try to not repeat the photos too much, and I think this day's collection has some interest.

The Common Goldeneye winters in coastal areas and feeds on Mollusks, crustaceans and small fish. They seem to have their beak in the water frequently as these photos show.


Common Goldeneye - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

Common Goldeneye - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

The female is quite striking with the brown head and, of course, the golden eye.

Common Goldeneye (F) - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

Another common bird in winter is the Horned Grebe, a small plain looking bird in winter. In spring it will moult into multi-coloured breeding plumage. Unfortunately, they seem to abandon this area before the moult starts.

Horned Grebe - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

There are two Cormorant species here during the winter. This is the Double-crested with the bright orange beak. The crests are almost never seen.

Double-Crested Cormorant - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

The predominant Gull on the Northwest coast is the Glaucous-winged. This one appears to be an immature bird, possibly in the moulting process. It reminds me of a pissed off teenager with acne.

Glaucous-winged Gull (Imm) - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

It's not unusual to see Sea Lions here in winter, it is difficult to get a photo of them. They only surface for a few seconds before submersing themselves again.

Steller Sea Lion - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

The last two photos taken on this day show an interaction between a Goldeneye and a Gull. I'm guessing the Goldeneye caught this morsel of food and had it stolen by the Gull.

Common Goldeneye and Glaucous-winged Gull - 

Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

The duck does not happy in this photo...

January 27

I visited again the following Sunday and only took one photo worth posting, a close-up of a Common Loon. This is their non-breeding plumage. With luck, I should see them in their more well known colours in the coming months. This photo shows their flat head quite well.

Common Loon - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA