F/7.1, 1/200, ISO 400.
Common Loon ( Nonbreeding adult )
What did the chicken say when it got to the library?
“Book book book book book book book…”
Interesting Fact: Migrating Common Loons occasionally land on wet highways or parking lots, mistaking them for rivers and lakes. They become stranded without a considerable amount of open water for a long takeoff. A loon may also get stranded on a pond that is too small. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Loon/ )
F/7.1, 1/200, ISO 200.
Black Scoter
Why did the tiny ghost join the football team?
He heard they needed a little team spirit.
Interesting Fact: A coastal duck that breeds in the subarctic, the Black Scoter is not well studied in North America. Only a few nests have ever been found. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black_Scoter )
F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 160.
Common Goldeneye
What did the salad say when the cabbage interrupted their meal?
Lettuce alone!
Interesting Fact: The eyes of a Common Goldeneye are gray-brown at hatching. They turn purple-blue, then blue, then green-blue as they age. By five months of age they have become clear pale green-yellow. The eyes will be bright yellow in adult males and pale yellow to white in females. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Goldeneye )
F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 200.
Common Eider ( Males )
What did the duck say when he dropped the dishes?
“I hope I didn’t quack any!”
Interesting Fact: A colorful duck of the northern seacoasts, the Common Eider is the largest duck in the Northern Hemisphere. ( https://identify.whatbird.com/obj/1095/overview/Common_Eider.aspx )
F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 640.
Double-crested Cormorant
How does NASA organize a party?
They planet
Interesting Fact: The male chooses the nest site and then attracts a female. Nests can be on the ground, on rocks or reefs with no vegetation, or atop trees, which may be alive when a cormorant colony first forms but typically die after a few years from the guano build-up. Nests are built in the center of a colony first, then expand outward. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Double-crested_Cormorant/lifehistory )
F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 800.
Common Loon ( Nonbreeding adult )
Why did the teddy bear say no to dessert?
Because she was stuffed.
Interesting Fact: Loons shoot through the water like a torpedo, propelled by powerful thrusts of feet located near the rear of their body. When their quarry changes direction, loons can execute an abrupt flip-turn that would make Olympic swimmers jealous: they extend one foot laterally as a pivot brake and kick with the opposite foot to turn 180 degrees in a fraction of a second. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Loon/lifehistory )
F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 640.
Double-crested Cormorant
What do you call a bear with no socks on?
Bare-foot.
Interesting Fact: Large pebbles are occasionally found in cormorant nests, and the cormorants treat them as eggs. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Double-crested_Cormorant )
F/9.0, 1/250, ISO 640.
Common Loon ( Nonbreeding adult )
Where do snowmen keep their money?
In snow banks.
Interesting Fact: Loons are like airplanes in that they need a runway for takeoff. In the case of loons, they need from 30 yards up to a quarter-mile (depending on the wind) for flapping their wings and running across the top of the water in order to gain enough speed for lift-off. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Loon )
F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 800.
At what time does a duck wake up?
At the quack of dawn.
Interesting Fact: More than half of eastern North American population of Harlequin Ducks winters in coastal Maine, particularly outer reaches of Penobscot and Jericho bays. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Harlequin_Duck/lifehistory )
F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 250.
Common Eider ( Males )
What did Detective Duck say to his partner?
“Let’s quack this case!”
Interesting Fact: A famous colony lives on the Farne Islands in Northumberland, Britain. These birds were the subject of one of the first ever bird protection laws, established by Saint Cuthbert in the year 676. About 1,000 pairs still nest there every year. ( https://identify.whatbird.com/obj/1095/overview/Common_Eider.aspx )
Through Open Lens 