Forward March! (Common Eider)

I am back at Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary, on the coast in Westport Mass. I was mainly pursuing piping plovers. I blipped a plover here during a brief visit last week, and I saw them again today--mainly birds sitting on eggs on the beach.

I'll try to blip another plover tomorrow, but for today this blip takes precedence: A pair of common eider ducks (Somateria mollissima), captured at a distance across a tidal channel.

This is a very special shot, for various reasons: I've been coming to Allens Pond for five years, but I've seen eiders quite rarely--and only females (they are dark). Today I saw a total of four males (they're black and white), including this one with its mate. AND I had never seen them actually on the beach, only in the water--elsewhere as well. In general, Common Eider are actually fairly common, but not here at Allens Pond. Yippee!