ML612313634

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Continuing record. Spotted by Sergey about one third of the way out in the middle of the reservoir while we were standing on the paved road on the west side of the reservoir. These 3 scoters stayed very close to each other, not particularly associating with any other ducks. We were able to watch them in our spotting scopes for about 5 minutes or more. Eventually, they swam to the east side of the reservoir, where they were much farther away from us. Sergey was able to get a couple long distance photos beforehand. Regarding this record: A single male Surf Scoter was spotted by Shearwater on 5 November and seen again on 6 November. A male and female/imma. male were spotted by Steve Rottenborn (Shearwater) on 18 November. Assuming these are the same individuals, at least one male has been present for over 30 days. This is a record for San Benito County. No other Surf Scoters have stayed this long in the county. All sightings are in eBird. Also, this is only the second time that 3 Surf Scoters have been seen together in the county, the other record being 15 February 1998 at Paicines Reservoir (Shearwater/De Martini). The winter of 1998 remains the most impactful El Nino year in San Benito County in terms of bird records, flooding, and major road washouts. It should be noted however, that I (Debi) did not live in the county during the 1982-83 globally impactful El Nino of my lifetime. Surely there must have been some amazing records in San Benito County during that winter. One wonders, though, if Surf Scoter might not be an annual winter species in the county. Time, wet winters, access to reservoirs, and good birding will tell.

Technical information

Model

Canon PowerShot SX50 HS

ISO

100

Focal length

215 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/6.5

Shutter speed

1/200 sec

Dimensions

767 pixels x 536 pixels

Original file size

56.43 KB