While away for the Thanksgiving holiday I was of course keeping watch on the local bird reports. There were several sightings that would have been good additions to the year's list.
One was a White-winged Scoter in the Santa Barbara Harbor that was first reported by Jim Hodgson. It seemed to be sticking around, so after arriving home and unloading I got myself on the bike and headed down to the harbor.
It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and quite a change from a brisk and snowy Utah we had just left behind. I arrived at the harbor and saw a few scoters floating in the distance. I got myself in a position for a closer look. There were 3 scoters fairly close to the shore, 2 Surf Scoters and 1 Black Scoter - possibly the one I had seen in the harbor awhile back. I had to scan farther out from shore to locate the White-winged Scoter, which thankfully had stuck around until after I arrived home. It eventually came a little closer for a decent ID photo. White-winged Scoter for #278!
Tomorrow I hope to catch up with one or two more of the birds reported last week. Fingers crossed!
Some photos from this afternoon:
White-winged Scoter
Black Scoter
Black-bellied Plover
Sanderling
After the addition of this 1 species, the year's total stands at 278
The Score: Vermont 274, Green Big Year 278
Today I rode a total of 8.5 miles
More later,
Glenn
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