Surf Scoter

I saw the female first. That was on August 29. I was excited to see her. And that was sad.

You might think — OK, I might think — that a waterbird doesn’t need a bath. It spends 24/7 in

Along with the thousand-strong flock of Scaup that the big winds blew in came this much smaller band of Surf

This bird had been floating asleep almost every day for a week up near the Open Circle Viewpoint, and I

It was a total surprise to see this adult male Surf Scoter off the west shore of the park. It

This female Surf Scoter was loosely keeping company with a pair of Common Goldeneye off the north shore of the

As I’ve noted here several times, Surf Scoters used to visit here by the thousands, but virtually disappeared after the

A new Surf Scoter appeared on Saturday, an adult male, with the unforgettable multicolor beak. He had two females with

Another Surf Scoter has appeared on the North Basin, this time a female. Unlike the male that showed here in

This solo Surf Scoter, first posted here on August 31, still paddled the waters just off the northeast corner of

The Surf Scoter, once seen in the Bay by the thousands, is a rare bird now. This lone individual, paddling

The tucked-away sleeping bird that I thought might be an adult male Surf Scoter (in my post of a few

Surf Scoters were the third most numerous bird in the North Basin in the years 2004-2007, after Ruddy Duck and