Bay Photos by Donna

Black Walnut Point on Tilghman Island is a great location to sit in your car and directly overlook the Chesapeake Bay from a large parking lot.  Having 20-25 mph winds this one day, I knew it’d be difficult to see any ducks but I wanted to check out the waves.

Black Scoter (1st winter)  pops up behind a wave

Far out and constantly diving, there were just a few Black and Surf Scoters.  If there had been no winds, you may see rafts of them. But with today’s direct winds here, most likely they were around the tip and back side of the island and mouth of the Choptank River.

Black Scoters (1st winter)
Migrates from upper Canada and Alaska

Surf Scoter (adult male)
Migrates from upper Canada and Alaska

That was a blurry shot but I wanted to share that gorgeous beak and show comparison to the next shot of a transforming immature Surf Scoter.

Surf Scoter (1st winter male)

Some more winter ducks on other days and locations and, yay. no winds.

Bufflehead
(migrates from Canada)

Northern Shovelers
Migrates from northern U.S. and Canada
Northern Shovelers are monogamous and remain together longer than pairs of most other dabbling ducks

Loons are actually not a duck species but classified in a different line of waterbird.  But they appear here with the winter ducks and when we get to enjoy them.

Common Loon
Migrates from northern U.S. and Canada

One final duck shot, for fun! 🙂

Whee!