ML43817471

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

My spouse and I spotted this pair of ducks on Lake Monona about 250 yards south of Yahara Place Park where the Yahara River empties into Lake Monona. Had our Kowa 20x scope along, and that afforded us nice looks. Saw that they were likely-- or at least possibly-- scoters, so I quickly went home 2 blocks away to get my camera. Watched the birds for over an hour. They sure appear to be black scoters to me. Sent this and several other photos of the pair to my friend and birding expert Laura Erickson in Duluth and she concurs. We saw the birds fly twice for about 150 yards each time-- no white on wings-- just dark. Initially, the birds were about 1 field of view from a few mallards. These scoters were almost the same size, maybe a bit smaller. We've seen black scoters on many occasions in Maine and in the Canadian maritimes.

Technical information

Model

Canon PowerShot SX50 HS

ISO

200

Focal length

215 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/6.5

Shutter speed

1/160 sec

Dimensions

4000 pixels x 3000 pixels

Original file size

3.93 MB