White-winged Scoter

I photographed these White-winged Scoters on 9 March 2021 where Schneider Creek enters Budd Bay in Olympia. It is a shame that this spot is in the city’s crosshairs for condo development. White-winged Scoters breed deep in the interior, northwestern Canadian wilderness and most winter along both coasts of North America. Because they breed in such remote areas, their conservation status is poorly known. Ecologists are concerned that these scoters are poorly censused, White-winged Scoters winter along oil transportation routes. These scoters feed at considerable depths in the ocean and are often tangled in fishing nets. Global warming also threatens to disturb scoter breeding and wintering habitats (Brown and Fredrickson 2020).