Tuesday, February 18, 2014

White-winged Scoter

 White-winged Scoter (Melanitta fusca )

Most White-winged Scoters winter on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts but a few spend the cold months on the great Lakes, a trend that seems to be increasing due to the recent invasion here of zebra mussels. They dive to eat mollusks, small fish, crustaceans, aquatic insects and - in summer - pondweeds.

White-winged scoters breed in northwestern Canada and Alaska

Diving for dinner
I am connecting to Stewart M's Wild Bird Wednesday HERE

44 comments:

Buttons Thoughts said...

Beautiful bird I have seen a few of them on the lake I never did know what kind they were or where they came from. Thank you again. Hug B

Carole M. said...

oh, quite unusual, great to see

The Cranky said...

I don't recall seeing one 'live', only via photos...a handsome fella but with the white around the eye it rather looks like he's glaring at someone.

PerthDailyPhoto said...

Sounds sensible to stay where the food source is plentiful, lovely captures EG.

Elizabeth Edwards said...

interesting eyes & beaks. wow!! so different. ( :

LindyLouMac said...

Wonderful bird captures.

Rajesh said...

Beautiful captures of the bird.

Rajesh said...

Beautiful captures of the bird.

William Kendall said...

Beautiful. I don't think I have seen one before.

Judy said...

I've not seen this one before, love the white on his wings.

Darla said...

Great bird shots. I like the reflections on the water. The water almost looks like satin.

Darla

MadSnapper said...

they are wonderful, i like that last photo, diving for dinner...

LONDONLULU said...

They have the sweetest faces, I don't think I've ever seen them before either!

Karen said...

Surprising they have found open water with the Great Lakes being 88% frozen. A handsome looking species, the white around the eyes is unusual.

Anonymous said...

Very unusual eye markings!

Anonymous said...

Very unusual eye markings!

TexWisGirl said...

what a neat bird!

Stephanie said...

They are beautiful birds, I think I have seen these ones before.

Anonymous said...

I hope they have big appetites and eat up all those invasive mussels. Pretty duck that I'd really love to see.

Halcyon said...

Cute little guys!

Grandma Barb's This and That said...

Great photos. Those eyes look so intense!

Andrea @ From The Sol said...

I live near Lake Michigan, but have not seen the Scoters on it or in any of the surrounding lakes ... of course this year everthing is frozen solid, so they have probably moved elsewhere. They are welcome to come eat the Zebra mussels as they get on everything. We need the predation. Very nice pictures especially the one in the process of a dive.

Andrea @ From The Sol

Rohrerbot said...

Crazy awesome looking birds!!! I have yet to see one of these birds in the wild. They are so unique looking!

Indrani said...

The white patches around their eyes make them look unique.

RedPat said...

That's a new one for me, EG!

Lisa Gordon said...

What a handsome creature!
These photographs are wonderful.

Small City Scenes said...

wonderful shots. Nice looking Scoter.

My computer was out for a whole day and night---back now YAY

MB

cieldequimper said...

Extraordinarly white around the eye that makes them look a bit fierce!

Mersad said...

Great shots!

Stuart said...

As usual, beautiful shots !

Lowell said...

These look similar to some ducks we have here but I don't think they're the same. Love that last shot...looks like the lucky duck is going to dive for dinner. And the water is so beautifully soft and silky!

Gail Dixon said...

There have been reports of this duck at a lake near here, but I haven't made it out there yet. Now I know what to look for. Marvelous images!

kayerj said...

what a pretty little fellow

Giga said...

Ciekawe i bardzo ładne kaczki. Zdjęcia też im świetne zrobiłaś. Pozdrawiam.
Interesting and very nice duck. Photos also did them great. Yours.

eileeninmd said...

Cool shots of the Scoters! When I see them they are so far out. They are neat looking birds. Have a happy week!

aspiritofsimplicity said...

I have been meaning to get out onto the water to see what kinds of sea ducks we have out there...but it has been so very cold!! i like seeing them here on your blog too.

Rose said...

They have strange looking eyes....need to look them up.

Carver said...

Beautiful water bird and the water looks like satin with the wind blowing it.

Jack said...

Zebra mussels! Those are bad, bad, bad. Get some more of these birds.

Randy said...

He looks mean in that first shot.

Cloudia said...

I imagined we were watching them together. Nice shots



ALOHA from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
=^..^= <3

Anonymous said...

I am amazed at the wide variety of birds you have. Love learning about them.

Pat Tillett said...

Very nice photos! I'm pretty sure that the one in the first photo is giving you the "stink eye."

Kenneth Cole Schneider said...

Catching up after being away from the computer. Just looked at the photos of the female and wanted to compare with these. All are very nice images. Am envious as I have never seen one. They have shown up near my second home in Illinois but right now I'm too happy in Florida!

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East Gwillimbury is a rural town less than an hour north of Toronto, Canada's largest city. My family calls me CameraGirl because I take my camera with me wherever I go.