Can you Stand it?

Female Common Merganser on left, female, or maybe immature male,
depending on you listen to, Red-breasted Merganser, on right

They've been hanging around together for a couple of weeks,
but usually way out in the main current of the river.

More birds.....We found some interesting ones yesterday. Early in the day I hustled up the exposed riverbed for some gulls that were resting on the sandbar.

As I peered through the binoculars I discovered that, not only was the Red-breasted Merganser we have been seeing IN the cove at the end of the Schoharie instead of out in the river as usual, but there was a tiny gull among the Ring-billed and Herring Gulls as well.

The little guy is the Bonaparte's, next to a much larger Ring-billed Gull

It was a Bonaparte's Gull, something we have only see once or twice before here in our inland community. Later in the day it was joined by another....so lots of fun for me. I swear I could spend a day walking the bed of the river and not get bored. So much to see, and always the knowledge that very soon many feet of water will cover the sand and stones where I am leaving hurried footprints.

I wish the pair of Killdeers, which are trying nest out on the sand bar, knew what is soon to come. Guaranteed nesting failure there, poor birds.