I just got back from barnegat lighthouse, NJ and am exhausted. I'll blog about it soon, but I couldn't help but try to ID this special water bird I saw -with no success! I've never seen a beak like this before on this kind of bird... (though I'm not experienced), it's so thick and dagger-like! Kind of like a heron's beak on a merganser's tawny brown body. It was swimming near some mergansers that I was trying to photo... and accidentally found this bird in my viewfinder! I can't find my darn birding books and can't find this guy on the net either! I even looked up commonly and not so commonly sighted birds at this location, so i'm stumped! This is the only photo I got of it before i lost it completely (the bird, not my mind... yet). The raised feathers are due to the TREMENDOUS winds we're having here! Hope someone can shed some light! I'm really rather excited about this one! Aw heck... i'm excited about all of em... I've attached the picture I took but I don't see it in the preview... so please check my album if you don't see it here - it's saved as Mystery Water Bird.
OK, just before hitting post, I found a picture online that said it might be a juvenile common loon... HOLY COW! I've wanted to see a loon for foever!!! Is it a loon!?!?!?! *passes out*
~Dovekie
