SMAP contest round 39 -Flocks

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Here are a variety of winter sea ducks and birds for my entry to SMAP this week. Maybe they're more properly called 'rafts' on the water but anyway, here are some flocks!

Here are some of the common ducks that can be found along the New England coast in the winter months. Greater Scaup (more associated with salt water than the Lesser Scaup), Black Scoter (orange billed, female with white cheeks), and Common Eider appear in this picture.

Again, from farther away to show distance. These flocks did not like the ferry getting too close.

Here's a small part of the flock in the air. There were tons of birds out on the water this day in late January

Black scoters closer to the boat.

There were even small flocks of Black Guillemots. These are more rarely seen.

Surf Scoters scooting away from this ship. The males were in high-breeding plumage, readying for their migration northwards.

In this flock, you can see a third scoter species: the White-winged Scoter. There two in the center of the shot.

On the rocks were Great Cormorants, which replace our Double-crested Cormorants for the winter. They remind me of dinosaurs sitting atop that boulder out at sea.

Thanks for checking out my flock shots. A portion of this post's payout goes to support the FeatheredFriends community.