20250121 (11)_Spectacled_Eider
Near-adult drake Spectacled Eider off the island of Texel in the Netherlands. The species is normally resident in the Arctic Ocean near Alaska, with ice driving the population into the North Pacific for winter. There are very few records for Northern Europe with the birds having previously reached Northern Norway and the adjacent seas, so this drake was the first European record available to birders, who have responded with journeys from all points of the continent. To date the Spectacled Eider has been ticked by birders from at least 18 countries including, remarkably, two birders who decided it was cheaper to hop a jet from the East coast of the USA to Schiphol than to travel to the far reaches of Alaska for this species. And it’s on my list after a day trip involving 520 miles driving and two ferries.
20250121 (11)_Spectacled_Eider
Near-adult drake Spectacled Eider off the island of Texel in the Netherlands. The species is normally resident in the Arctic Ocean near Alaska, with ice driving the population into the North Pacific for winter. There are very few records for Northern Europe with the birds having previously reached Northern Norway and the adjacent seas, so this drake was the first European record available to birders, who have responded with journeys from all points of the continent. To date the Spectacled Eider has been ticked by birders from at least 18 countries including, remarkably, two birders who decided it was cheaper to hop a jet from the East coast of the USA to Schiphol than to travel to the far reaches of Alaska for this species. And it’s on my list after a day trip involving 520 miles driving and two ferries.