Surf Scoters on the Sea Wall

Surf Scoters on the Sea Wall
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2008

It would be much funnier if they were called Surf Scooters, but I didn’t name them. They arrived a few days ago, touching down in the water right next to the Sea Wall. From a distance, the flock looked like a long line of debris afloat on the calm surface of English Bay. But as I got nearer, activity became apparent and the line morphed into a shape-shifting congregation of thousands of birds.

Google revealed that most of them are Surf Scoters, a species of sea ducks. Among them cruise a few Barrow’s Goldeneyes. They seem to be spending most of their time feeding, diving in groups of 10 to 100 individuals for crustaceans and mollusks. Why they all dive together, I could not say. It appears to be triggered in a ripple effect similar to fish reacting to each other in a bait ball.

These photos were taken early Saturday morning on my way to the park for some fall colours and a new session of macro photography, but these will be the subject of another post. The light was low and the sky covered. Humidity thickened the air. People would pause in their stroll and watch the flock pulsate in all directions like a beating heart, a stone’s throw away from shore.

Even in the rain, Vancouver still manages to amaze me.

Posted at 12:26 AM in Photoblogs: & Vancouver:

5 Comments

Display comments as(Linear | Threaded)

1 - Marie says:

« Wow, they are amazing! I wish I’d seen them, too. The last picture is funny - they look like the duck police. »
Date of comment: 2008-11-02 14:37 •
2 - moreidlethoughts says:

« Sights like this are (to me at least) both humbling and thrilling. Thanks. »
Date of comment: 2008-11-02 15:40 •
3 - Vince says:

« And just think what a dinner this would have made, « Canards a l’orange »... »
Date of comment: 2008-11-03 19:01 •
4 - Marie says:

« Um...? What should I be feeling? Outrage? Guilt?

I don’t eat SURF ducks, I eat...I eat...eating ducks! Sometimes.

Why’d you have to bring up recipes? »
Date of comment: 2008-11-03 21:37 •
5 - Estorbo says:

« Does anybardy hab an orange? I’m goeen’ to cadge me a dorck... »
Date of comment: 2008-11-03 22:21 •

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