Karen and I were standing on our neighbor's dock late yesterday.? At first the Lake Joy bird world seemed quiet except for some noisy Mallards far to our left.? The action started with a Bald Eagle going after the Mallards.? Then we hear a Belted Kingfisher up at the street.? Far across the lake (about 1/3 of a mile)?we saw two white dots.? They were Western Grebes circling in the water with their chests puffed out and heads tucked in such a way that they were able to navigate.? Next we noticed three Double-crested Cormorants on a raft far from our shore.? Five Common Mergansers then flew in from our right and landed over by the Mallards.? The last action that we saw before we went in the house because we were cold and hungry was what appeared to be five Ruddy Ducks landing near the Western Grebes which?had begun?paddling with their necks extended.? Luckily I had my trusty Canon SX50HS on a tripod and filmed a lot of the action.? Upon
reviewing the video of the Ruddy Ducks we concluded that they were actually Surf Scoters.? I sent the video to John Tubbs who confirmed our ID.

Surf Scoter video:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ljcouple/10218369134/
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Western Grebe video:
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/ljcouple/10218962484/
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Common Merganser video:
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/ljcouple/10218932916/
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The videos aren't sharp because of the great distances involved.
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Hank Heiberg
Lake Joy
Carnation, WA
karenhankatyahoodotcom

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