Today I broke free from working on our rental for long enough to dash to Ruston Way to look for Black Scoter that he had seen there yesterday afternoon. They had been seen last weekend also. I first went to the Thea’s Park lookout over the waterway where they were seen yesterday, but none there. Next I went down Ruston Way to the spot just past the Chinese Reconciliation Project Pavillon where on first pass none were seen, but I turned around and they must have all been diving because six Black Scoter (eBird list) were very close to shore and in plain site I got digiscope photos before I had to head back to meet our roof repairmen.

I got that task done and decided to check out the Mountain View Cemetery. I was hoping to find a good flock of sparrows to see if maybe a White-throated or even Harris’s might be mixed in, but the oak area was very quiet. The good find of the stop though was a Greater White-fronted Goose with about 45 Canada Geese on the lower cemetery lawn.