The King of Cape May Point

For over a month now, an immature male King Eider has been hanging out along the beach at Cape May Point. It is most often seen foraging around the jetty at the St. Mary’s dune crossing – that is where my friends and I were able to catch up with it on the evening of January 2nd. The eider was a lifer for Mark and the first time any of the three of us have seen an immature male of this species! We arrived at the St. Mary’s dune crossing a little before 4:00pm and at first, didn’t see the eider anywhere. A few minutes later, I spotted it right down in front of us! The bird had must of been hidden behind the jetty when we first arrived or was under water the whole time – something we realized may have been entirely possible since we witness the eider dive under and not resurface for several minutes at a time! Using one side of the jetty as a blind, I was able to photograph the bird at a nice distance. Although the position of the sun was not in our favor, I was able to get a few shots that I was happy with while Josh and Mark took some digi-scoped video.

Immature male King Eider at Cape May Point. (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

Immature male King Eider at Cape May Point. (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

Immature male King Eider at Cape May Point. (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

Immature male King Eider at Cape May Point. (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)