Greetings:

Given the fine weather with light breezes, Lee and I decided upon an 
afternoon cruise on the Choptank River aboard Phalarope.  We departed Town 
Creek at 1:30 and crossed the Choptank to Todd Point.  Several rafts of 
mixed scoters and other sea ducks were in the embayment, and we putted and 
drifted while enjoying them.  We crossed back over to Chlora Point to our 
usual sea ducking spot, and while perusing scoters, ruddy ducks, 
buffleheads, and oldsquaw (oops, sorry, long-tailed ducks) I noticed a 
white-headed duck that wasn't a long-tailed duck. Lee wouldn't be 
distracted from trying to find grebes among the ruddies, and refused to 
take a look at my 'wierd duck' until it took flight, fortunately right 
towards the boat.  It was a male COMMON EIDER - black belly, white head 
and neck, black cap, and chartreuse bill with long lobes.  WOW!

Species for the trip:

common loon
horned grebe
double-crested cormorant
Canada goose
lesser scaup
COMMON EIDER
long-tailed duck
white-winged scoter
surf scoter
black scoter
bufflehead
ruddy duck
turkey vulture
unidentified sandpiper
laughing gull
ring-billed gull
herring gull
great black-backed gull
Forster's tern

Happy Birding -
Carol McCollough