I stopped at East Shore Park today in hopes of seeing the reported White-winged Scoter. Instead, I found a lone female Lesser Scaup with a fishing lure in her mouth and apparently fishing line wrapped around her wing exposing the white at the bases of her secondaries. I have put a few photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/KevinJ.McGowan/Winter20122013#5830074707828587666 and the following images.
I don't know if this is the same bird that has been reported as a White-winged Scoter, but I wouldn't be surprised. It had me fooled for a while. It is a dark duck showing a distinct white patch in the wing, a white spot behind a scooped bill, and a dirty paler area near the nape. Luckily I saw only the head for the moments of my first identification try, and the white in the face was solid scaup. When it finally turned and the white in the wing showed I went back and tried to make it a scoter, but it just wasn't. As can be seen from the photos, the bird has a large white belly and white wing linings. An immature scoter can have a white patch on the belly, but not a clearly defined dark chest line nor any white under the wing. With a bit of overexposure the head can be seen to be brown, not blackish and whitish. The large red lure dangling from its bill didn't fit any field marks of any species, but it did make me think for a while that it was holding its bill open exposing a pink lining. The bird was actively swimming past the park, going south. It dived once when a Ring-billed Gull made a pass. I can imagine that having a gull pull on the lure, trying to steal the "fish" would not be fun, and the scaup didn't let the gull get close. As someone commented to me, it's good Bald Eagle bait. Personally I hope an eagle gets it soon. Its quality of life looks pretty miserable. Kevin -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
