ML645875303

Observation details

I found out last night that two of my nephews had been seeing an odd Duck in this area for the past week. My brother thought it might be an eider, so he called me. The three of us came out to find it today at low tide. I was shocked to see that it was a Steller’s, which was the last eider species that I hadn’t seen yet! We watched it for over an hour, during which time it stayed close to shore and associated with Harlequin Ducks, Bufflehead, and Common Goldeneye. We stayed behind sand dunes to keep from flushing them, and the distance and low light conditions impacted photo quality.