Greater Scaup

The Scaup around the park have come to me to complain about lack of coverage on this blog. In the

We had several days of stiff northerly breezes that would have made ideal tailwinds for birds headed south. Who doesn’t

Minutes before sunrise, dozens more scaup came flying from the north into the North Basin, joining the hundreds already there.

They came in on October 8, almost two weeks earlier than the first wave of them last year (“A Thousand

Literally thousands of scaup touched down and rested in the North Basin this spring season on their way back to

Every time I think I know something, nature proves me wrong. Just recently I posted an item about scaup needing

Only a loose scattering of about a hundred Scaup remained on the North Basin, and most of those were napping

We usually see Scaup like scattered sprinkles on a big blue cake. This morning, I saw only a small flock

Here I thought the Scaup were done with their northward migration at the end of March. And indeed in the

Scaup stopped here by the thousands in late October (See A Thousand Scaup, Oct. 20) on their way down from

The Scaup are the greatest divers among ducks. They can go down 20 feet and stay down for a whole

The extreme northeast winds that threatened the hills and shut down power to thousands over the weekend probably eased the

I was moving slowly northward on the east side of the park, looking at the glassy water of the North

Two of these male Scaup were floating with their heads tucked into their wings off the Open Circle viewpoint at

What’s so special about this scaup? Only that it’s out of the water. I’ve seen literally thousands of scaup in

I’d seen the Scaup around the park swimming, diving, flying, and sleeping, but never saw them eat. Then I saw