HI Joe et al.:
Speaking of White-winged Scoters, this week I got in a copy of a British
bird book titled: Frontiers in Birding. In the species identification
accounts, there is a section on how to identify Stejneger's, White-winged,
and Velvet Scoters. Although British and Russian ornithologists currently
divide the scoters into two species ( Velvet (M. fusca) and White-winged
Scoter (M. deglandi), the author argues that the eastern Russian form
(Stejneger's Scoter (M. stejnegeri) should be treated as a valid species.
Stejneger's Scoter has been recorded in Alaska and might occur here as a
vagrant. So everyone needs to check those flocks of White-winged Scoters
for Stejneger's Scoter!

--

Ian Paulsen
Bainbridge Island, WA, USA
" Which just goes to show that a
passion for books is extremely unhealthy."
from Cornelia Funke's "Inkheart".