Rondeau Ric

  Long-tailed jaeger, Aug 9, 2018, Burlington, Ontario, Canada. We took  a road trip down to see this bird and it was very co-operative. Moved around the Bech, flew a bit and posed nicely Stercorarius longicaudus For several kinds of Arctic predators, including Snowy Owls and Arctic foxes, lemming populations can make the difference between survival and starvation. But Long-tailed Jaegers are long-lived and eat lemmings only in the summertime; they forage at sea in the winter. This means they can avoid lemming shortages simply by choosing not to breed, a strategy that has been likened to “skimming the cream” off the lemming’s population cycles. source-allaboutbirds-org

Fiield trip today to Burlington, Ontario, Canada, to look for the long tailed jaeger that has been seen the past few days. It took a while but we did see the bird several times. This was a life bird for both Anne and myself. Whooohooo. Also met up with other birders we haven't ween for a while. At one point we had 5 Ric(k)s on the beach standing together. Stercorarius longicaudus A swift-flying seabird, extremely graceful and agile in flight. When swimming, it floats buoyantly, and it takes flight from the water easily. Of the three jaeger species, the Long-tail is the smallest and the one that migrates farthest offshore; south of the Arctic, it seldom comes within sight of land. source - www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/long-tailed-jaeger