Day 29: Razorbill

During our trip to the eastern shore yesterday, we made two visits to the Ocean City inlet. This is normally a great spot to see different sea birds and gulls. On our second visit, I was snapping away photos at various birds when I heard Jared shout. I looked up and saw he was pointing to a new bird in the water - a Razorbill!

The Razorbill is an interesting looking bird, with white underparts, a black head, neck, back, and a thick, blunt black bill. Most of the world's population breeds in Iceland, but during the winter, Razorbills move to ice-free coastal waters, with the largest numbers found in the outer Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of Maine. They occur regularly in winter south to New York and New Jersey. To see one right off of the shore in Maryland is a great find!

We watched the Razorbill in the water for a few minutes until a boat came through. Once the boat had gone past, the Razorbill was nowhere to be seen. Though the light was bad, I was still lucky to snap a couple of photos.