Oh, Those Wacky Surf Scoters

Posted on by

This gallery contains 2 photos. Yes, the ladies of this particular duck species really do like those thick, colourful bills on their boyfriends. Photographed at the Tsawwassen Ferry Causeway on March 3. As close as these Surf Scoters look, they’re still some 20-25 feet away. This pair of drakes is part of a small flock of four that plied the waters on the south side of the Tsawwassen Ferry Causeway today.

Oh, Those Wacky Surf Scotersmaybe they look clownish to us — but the Surf Scoter ladies love that carnie makeup.
f/11, 1/1600, 150-500mm telephoto lens, 500mm, ISO 1250

Surf Scoters aren’t the easiest birds to get close to (did I mention that?) A Surf Scoter drake makes a big splash with his fly-in (or drop-in) maneuver. He looks so happy to have made a successful touchdown.

Oh, Those Wacky Surf Scotersthis guy makes a splashdown landing on the north side of the T-Town Ferry Jetty.
f/6.3, 1/1600, 150-500mm telephoto lens, 500mm, ISO 320

MY ZAZZLE WEBSITE   www.zazzle.com/walkswithnature
MY PIXELS.COM WEBSITE   pixels.com/profiles/hui-sim.html

38 thoughts on “Oh, Those Wacky Surf Scoters”

    • I don’t know! 🙂 99% of the time I’ve seen these ducks, they’re floating on the water or diving like a team of synchronized swimmers beneath them. this fellow just happened to catch my eye with his splash landing.

      puffins are a cute lot. I would like to see them one day! 😀

      Like

      Reply

  10. What gorgeous images and great blue water too! They’re a migrating bird here. I had the privileged of seeing them this winter and was so thrilled! They weren’t as accommodating as yours though. They were very skittish and stayed further out on the lake. I think they’re gorgeous! One of the prettiest ducks we see here.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • thank you, Deborah! they’re migratory birds for us, too. the first time I saw them was a rather distant flock in flight (with a Long-Tailed Duck in tow … the odd duck out).

      your analysis of them as birds who keep their distance from humans is spot on … they didn’t accommodate me. 🙂 to get them to appear (relatively) close to shore, I had to make them believe I was no longer there (and that’s a bit challenging when one doesn’t use duck blinds, which is not very useful on the shoreline, anyway) and then, when they took one of their dives, I rushed ahead to where I thought they might pop up, with my camera on the ready.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  13. Ahah I laughed at your comment, these males are def showing off with their colorful bill. I wouldn’t say I find them very pretty tho, that white eye is kinda creepy, Marilyn Manson kinda style, don’t you think 😀 My first time ever seeing them, thx for sharing!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  14. This is weird it seems WP is malfunctioning for me this morning, I just posted the previous comment while registered as Yalakom but it’s showing me as anonymous o.O

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a reply to W.H. SIM Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.