On today’s biweekly Sunday bird walk we went chasing a King Eider. Thursday somebody reported seeing a male off Brenton Point to the RI birding network, so Friday I went looking. Apparently so did a bunch of other people, because that night’s RI Birds newsletter had a bunch of us reporting sightings. When I saw him he was a good quarter mile (.4 km) offshore, and was just barely identifiable in the binoculars. So when my friend Mark and I turned up in the parking lot of the Norman Bird Sanctuary this morning we pretty much knew today’s trip would be to Brenton Point. Jay, the walk leader, also suggested we head to Easton’s Beach afterward as somebody reported seeing an immature Iceland Gull there.

Let me tell you, it was pretty chilly out there. It was in the teens slowly warming into the 20s while we were out there (-8º to -5º C), and a brisk wind that brought the wind chill down into the single digits (-16º to -13º C). Yeah, it was chilly. We never found the birds we were looking for, but I thought I’d take some shots of the ice down at Brenton Point to give you, my faithful readers, a chill and send you running for the hot chocolate! [Note: Those are some old iron stanchions out on one of the rocky points out on Brenton Point in that top photo, and yes, that's ice covering them. I did say it was cold out there!]

Usually I head for Ballard Park and Gooseneck Cove after the Sunday bird walks, but two hours out in that cold was as much as I was willing to subject myself to, so Mark dropped me off at my place on his way home. What to do, what to do with only a few ocean shots and home a good 3 or 4 hours earlier than usual. Well, how about some macro still lifes with some of my shell collection? Good idea! Staying in an oceanic theme but taken indoors on a cold day.

And of course you know with that title that I was gonna have to do this; my favorite version of Frank Loesser’s “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”, Louis Armstrong and Velma Middleton doing a hilarious live take (I only wish I knew why the person who posted this kept using Louis and Ella album covers in the slide show!). Enjoy!