Surf Scoter
Melanitta perspicillata

f10 @ 1/1250s, ISO:2000, Nikon D3S w 500mm and 1.7X teleconverter


"Surf scoter," Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The surf scoter mainly feeds on benthic invertebrates. During the breeding period, surf scoters forage in pairs or small groups on a diverse range of freshwater invertebrates. However, the sea ducks feed on marine organisms for the rest of the year, in flocks ranging from a few individuals to several thousands birds. Important foods include crustaceans, herring spawn, gastropods and small bivalves such as mussels. In late winter and spring, Surf scoters tend to shift their diet according to the relative profitability of the food, showing a level of opportunism. For example, they start feeding in seagrass beds, on epifaunal crustaceans that have increased in size over winter or on Pacific herring eggs (Clupea pallasi), during the fish spawning.
Cape Cod Canal, Scusset Beach State Reservation, Sagamore, Massachusetts
 
03/27/2018