Double-crested Cormorant

Double-crested Cormorants were plentiful in Boston Harbor while I was there a couple of Saturdays ago. I saw these trying to dry out on the pier at Spectacle Island as I was leaving for the mainland on the ferry.

Common Eider

Early on while exploring Spectacle Island in Boston Harbor, I noticed what looked like a large duck or small goose sitting on a rock just off shore. At this point on the island, the trail was at the top of a sea wall made up of large boulders, so I couldn't get very close (though I did eventually crawl down the rocks a bit). Due to the distance and the fog, it was hard to see the birds features let alone identify it.
One feature that was vaguely apparent was a rather large, pale stripe across its eye brow. The last time I saw duck with a white stripe like that was a Garganey in Switzerland as seen below.

Eventually, another duck just like the first swam in from the fog and slowly made its way towards the rock.

I really didn't know what species I had seen. The next day while at the airport, I browsed through my field guide and through Cornell's All About Birds online guide looking for a duck or goose with an eye brow like these birds, but the only thing that came close was a Garganey. A few things bothered me however; its bill seemed too heavy and its nasal openings too far down its bill. It was also lacking the loose feathers on its back that Garganey have, though I read they loose those in the winter. The other obvious problem is that a Garganey in North America would be a very rare sighting.
On the off chance that I had actually seen a couple of Garganey in Boston I decided to upload a picture to my Flickr account and posted a link to MASSBIRD, Massachusetts' version of OBOL. I also CC'ed it to OBOL. It didn't take long before I got replies letting me know that these are actually Common Eiders which have become fairly common in the harbor.
Those that seemed most certain claimed they are 1st winter males, though some think they are adults in basic plumage. Regardless, there are not very many pictures on the web that I can find that show a Common Eider with such a prominent white eye brow as these birds. However, now that I know what they are, I can see the unusual Eider bill structure that I had wondered about.
New life bird number 3 from Boston!

Laughing Gull

I was on the road on business again this past week. My destination was Boston where I spent three days discussing with other manufacturers how we might make the BACnet building automation protocol more friendly to building IT departments. Fun stuff. :-)
Fortunately, I was able to fit in about three hours of birding on Spectacle Island in the Boston Harbor. The local Audubon Society thought it would be my best birding opportunity based on my location within the city and my schedule. The island was pretty cool, but the weather was awful. There was heavy fog and eventually heavy rain, but it didn't stop me from picking up a few new life birds!
While walking a pebbly beach on the south side of the island I found a mixed flock of adult and 1st winter Laughing Gulls as seen above. Most of the adults had transitioned to their winter, basic plumage, though one or two still showed remnants of a fully black head.

I tried to move in closer to get better pictures but the birds were fairly skittish, especially the younger ones.

It wasn't long before only a few adults were left, standing all in a row along the water.