[All photographs copyright, Gary Nunn 2013] – I made it down to Pt. La Jolla this morning at dawn to see what ducks and loons might be passing by on migration south. Overall there was little movement of birds and only a few groups appeared from the north. In addition the absence of any onshore wind kept everything at a considerable distance. But checking through the ducks carefully I came up with some unusual finds!
Looking north I saw a flock of ducks coming towards me, some quite large, that appeared definitely reddish around the head. My first thought was Redhead since we have some good wintering numbers of this species around Mission Bay. But as they came into better lighting the rufous turned to a nice chestnut and revealed eleven Canvasback Aythya valisineria mixed in the flock! Canvasback really dwarf most other diving ducks when seen flying together in mixed flocks. Canvasback can be told apart from Redhead by their larger size, sloping forehead to a black bill, chestnut head color, and the gray upperwing panel shown in flight (this panel is paler gray and more prominent in Redhead).
Canvasbacks in mixed duck flock – Pt. La Jolla, La Jolla, San Diego County 06 Nov 2013
Canvasbacks in mixed duck flock – Pt. La Jolla, La Jolla, San Diego County 06 Nov 2013
Canvasbacks in mixed duck flock – Pt. La Jolla, La Jolla, San Diego County 06 Nov 2013
A little while later, after some flocks of Surf Scoter had passed by, I spotted three dark ducks coming from the north. Ranging just outside the kelp beds, to my surprise, the middle bird had a nice pale buff cheek patch and offwhite belly patch. It was a juvenile/immature type Black Scoter Melanitta americana and the first of this species for my 2013-2014 seaduck-watching winter period here in San Diego. Nice! The Black Scoter was tucked in between two other ducks, the leading bird being a Surf Scoter. The third bird also looks to be this latter species.
Black Scoter, first winter – Pt. La Jolla, La Jolla, San Diego County 06 Nov 2013
Black Scoter, first winter – Pt. La Jolla, La Jolla, San Diego County 06 Nov 2013
Black Scoter, first winter – Pt. La Jolla, La Jolla, San Diego County 06 Nov 2013