Colonel S. Smith

[old stork]

Hi!
It was a windy day at Colonel S. Smith park, red neck grebes were numerous n the lake and in the marina, swiming with them were horned grebes, black and white winged scooters, and both species of scoup. Passerines were hiding in the bushes butmocking bird made an apperance.
Good birding. Arko

[Iain]

Just to clarify, were there Greater Scaup at Col. Sam? If yes how many?

Thanks,

Iain

[Brian Bailey]

I was on a bike ride in the park this afternoon.  I didn't pay too much attention to the scaup, but were at least a dozen, and they appeared to be mainly Greater.  There was a Lesser in the stormwater retention pond beside the yacht club.

The main avian attraction was the Red-necked Grebes.  They were easily the most plentiful waterfowl species in the park.  Many were vocalizing.  I didn't try counting, but there were probably about 20 Horned Grebes as well.

I counted 17 White-winged Scoters in front of the filtration plant.  I couldn't find any other scoter species, but there was a female Ruddy Duck in the harbour.

Other birds of note were my first of year Kingfisher and a couple of Tree Swallows.

BB

[Iain]

Thanks for the reply Brian,

Greater Scaup are far less common than Lesser, preferring saltwater to freshwater, was it the other way around with numbers or are you sure that there were over a dozen Greater?

Thanks again,

Iain

[Brian Bailey]

Iain,

In my experience, Greater Scaup are more common on Lake Ontario (in the Toronto area) than Lesser.  That's particularly true in winter, when virtually all of them are Greater.  I would expect to find Lesser at this time of year, but I think they are still less common.  You might find a different relative abundance in smaller bodies of water away from Lake Ontario.

All that said, I didn't study the scaup with great care.  I was cycling with my young daughter who gets impatient when I stop too long to look at ducks.  I based my ID on head shape and the bright white sides.

Brian

[Bruce Colvin]

I am sure you got your ID correct. Head shape and white sides are the two field marks that separate the greater from the lesser. Especially head shape.