As Terry Little graciously reported, yesterday I found an adult male BLACK SCOTER at the Spokane Central Premix pond off of I-90 Exit 285. After a miss this morning, the bird was located again around noon today (11/14). This is the 2nd Spokane Record, the first for a male bird and per Birds of WA, the 8th Eastern WA record. I believe there was also an adult female in the same pond but it was distant and I was unable to relocate and definitively ID it after photo'ing the much closer male. I found a juvenile male Surf Scoter last fall in this same location. It's not much for wild scenery, but it never freezes (ever!) and clearly holds a good fish supply, as it maintainst about 10 wintering Cormorants and has attracted many winter Loons over the years. Good place to check for rare diving Ducks and Loons if you're in the Spokane area.

Some poor but definitive photos of the Black Scoter are posted on Flickr.

Good birding, Jon Isacoff

Jonathan B. Isacoff
Chair, Environmental Studies
Associate Professor, Political Science
Gonzaga University
www.flickr.com/photos/isacoff