I had no idea if I would even go birding today, since the forecast
was for cold rain all day, but I had to run a few errands in
Farmville and I decided to make a quick trip to Sandy River Reservoir
afterwards. The rain had abated somewhat when I left my house, but by
the time the errands were done and I drove into the parking lot at
the lake the rain was steady again. But a group of Ring-billed Gulls
sitting on the water caught my attention, and when I looked a them
through the scope, I saw that they had a single first-winter Herring
Gull with them – new for the year.
After watching the gull for a short time, the rain increased and I sat in my car debating whether to leave. I decided to wait a few minutes, and when the rain eased a bit I started to scan the lake. Two large, dark ducks stood out among the Ruddy Ducks above the dam. I immediately thought “scoters!” but was cautious; both had their heads tucked, and visibility across the water was awful. After a minute or so I could see white in their wings, and I knew that would make them White-winged Scoters, a first county record as far as I know, but the visibility was still poor thanks to the rain and mist.
Gradually, though, the ducks came closer, the rain slowed even more,
and it was clear that they were White-winged Scoters. I took
some terrible pictures, though I did get some relatively good looks
through my scope. At one point the two scoters took off and flew a
couple of laps around the lower part of the lake, giving me great
views of their white secondaries. They also spent a few minutes
diving, but when I left they were resting again not far above the dam
where I'd first seen them.
With this record, I've now seen all three species of scoters at Sandy River Reservoir, though it has been a few years since the last record of either Black or Surf scoters there. This is a definite plus for the big year, even more than the Long-tailed Duck. Just the sort of thing to make me glad I went birding in the cold rain.
After watching the gull for a short time, the rain increased and I sat in my car debating whether to leave. I decided to wait a few minutes, and when the rain eased a bit I started to scan the lake. Two large, dark ducks stood out among the Ruddy Ducks above the dam. I immediately thought “scoters!” but was cautious; both had their heads tucked, and visibility across the water was awful. After a minute or so I could see white in their wings, and I knew that would make them White-winged Scoters, a first county record as far as I know, but the visibility was still poor thanks to the rain and mist.
 |
| Awful picture of a great duck -- White-winged Scoter |
With this record, I've now seen all three species of scoters at Sandy River Reservoir, though it has been a few years since the last record of either Black or Surf scoters there. This is a definite plus for the big year, even more than the Long-tailed Duck. Just the sort of thing to make me glad I went birding in the cold rain.
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