Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2004 15:57:47 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Michael Bowen Subject: more on White-winged Scoters in DC on March 19 Comments: To: va-bird@freelists.org Comments: cc: voice of the Naturalist Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Thanks to Lydia ("The Voice") Schindler for posting to MDOsprey this morning my sightings of a couple of White-winged Scoters on the Potomac River in DC. The birds were about equidistant from the 14th St. and Teddy Roosevelt Bridges, about 1/2 way out in the river. I initially thought they must be Black Ducks and wasn't going to 'scope them, but one waggled and shook its wings and the big white patches got my attention right away! I watched them for about 20 minutes, starting at 11:30 a.m. I concluded that they were both young male birds. The heads were dark, contrasting with dark blotchy brown on the bodies as they sat on the water. The white wing patches were difficult to see unless the birds "wing-waggled." Both birds had the long-headed look of W-W Scoters, with noticeably light tips to their bills. One bird had the beginnings of the white "comma" that distinguishes these attractive birds in breeding plumage. They did not dive during the time that I watched, and they were still in approximately the same place when I left. Less excitingly, here are some other sightings from Washington, DC, midday today: At the Tidal Basin - 6 COMMON MERGANSER and 20 RED-BREASTED MERGANSER. At Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens - 3 BLUE-WINGED TEAL, 10 WOOD DUCK, 8 HOODED MERGANSER, 3 COMMON MERGANSER, 12 AMERICAN BLACK DUCK At Georgetown Reservoir - 1 RED-NECKED GREBE, 2 HORNED GREBE, 2 RED-BREASTED MERGANSER Mike Bowen Bethesda, MD D. H. Michael Bowen (Mike) 8609 Ewing Drive Bethesda MD 20817-3845 Tel/Fax: (301) 530-5764 e-mail: dhmbowen@yahoo.com ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================