Orange County White-winged Scoter

This evening after work, I stopped by Glenmere Lake and located what I believe was a single distant scoter. I was not sure which scoter it could be, but after watching the bird for a while, it did some preening and flapping of the wings which exposed the white secondaries – indicative of a WHITE-WINGED SCOTER. In the above video (which I know is horrible), right at about the 5 or 6 second mark, you can catch a glimpse of white on the wing. Here’s a heavily cropped grainy photo of the bird; it was actually much darker out than the photo indicates.

White-winged Scoter at Glenmere Lake, 10/23/14.
White-winged Scoter at Glenmere Lake, 10/23/14.

2 thoughts on “Orange County White-winged Scoter”

  1. One of the ironies of White-winged Scoter is the fact that the white patch often doesn’t show or is so minimal at a distance it can’t be seen. Good call and great you stuck with the bird to see the patch. Of course if the bird happens to fly, it makes it a whole lot easier.

    1. Thanks John. This bird was cooperative in that respect, fidgeting a lot and flapping. At one point I could see the patch while the bird was at rest too. It was not cooperative in that it was SO far out there. Matt

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