• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Scoters? Ottawa, ON (1 Viewer)

Gillian_M

Birding since 2006!
We saw a group of about 20 diving ducks on the Ottawa River this afternoon. There seems to be a mixture of species, and I think most of them are Scoters. Unfortunately they were not all that close to the shore.

Any thoughts on what they are? And are there any White-winged Scoters mixed in?

Thanks!
 

Attachments

  • Ottawa Beach 021 (2).jpg
    Ottawa Beach 021 (2).jpg
    41.2 KB · Views: 128
  • Ottawa Beach 024 (2).jpg
    Ottawa Beach 024 (2).jpg
    43.6 KB · Views: 101
  • Ottawa Beach 025 (2).jpg
    Ottawa Beach 025 (2).jpg
    69.8 KB · Views: 104
  • Ottawa Beach 039 (2).jpg
    Ottawa Beach 039 (2).jpg
    66.5 KB · Views: 97
  • Ottawa Beach 050 (2).jpg
    Ottawa Beach 050 (2).jpg
    42.9 KB · Views: 94
Here are a couple more shots:
 

Attachments

  • Ottawa Beach 030 (2).jpg
    Ottawa Beach 030 (2).jpg
    77.5 KB · Views: 75
  • Ottawa Beach 084 (2).jpg
    Ottawa Beach 084 (2).jpg
    46.7 KB · Views: 98
  • Ottawa Beach 062 (2).jpg
    Ottawa Beach 062 (2).jpg
    35.3 KB · Views: 79
Most look like immature or female White-winged Scoters to me (sloping foreheads, two white spots on the head, white in wing); there's a male in 084 (2nd from the left, with the white eye).
The bird on the left in picture 039 might be a Surf Scoter, but I wouldn't dare to call that one.
I can't tell what the 3rd bird from the left in 084 is.
 
Hard to say where that white is on Xenospiza's possible Surf, but I can't really say which way the head is pointing, so I'd go for all White-winged.
 
Great, thanks for the confirmation! I thought some of them might be white-winged scoters, but wanted to know for sure as this bird was a lifer!
 
Warning! This thread is more than 17 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top