On the evening of the 22nd July a Black Scoter passed in a flock of Common Scoters Melanitta nigra. The evening started very quietly. No flocks over the sea and just a few flocks of Black-headed Gulls over land. After 18:30 some flocks of Common Scoters begin to migrate. The flocks passed by quite close and in good light. At 19:30 a flock of 100 Common Scoters were coming towards us in very good light. Almost immediately I saw that one of them, in the front part of the flock, had a lot of yellow on the bill. As the flock was getting closer and closer, the birds turned left and the shape of the bill could be seen. The bird looked like it had a big orange stuck on its bill and it was then possible to confirm that it was in fact a Black Scoter rather than a weird Common one with lots of yellow. Unfortunately, the bird was at the beginning of the flock and disappeared quite quickly behind other Common Scoters after I could confirm that it was a Black Scoter. Luckily Antero, the only other birder present, managed to see the bird before it disappeared.

Interestingly, just the following evening, a Common Scoter with lots of yellow on the bill passed by. With the memory of the Black Scoter fresh from the day before, it was clearly different, since the shape of the bill was the same as with other normal Common Scoters.

Jon