What the????

[radke22]

I shot a duck in alexandria on sat. nothing i have ever seen before. the size of a mallard and all black. white cheeks with a black strip from its eyes to its neck only on the top of its head. All black bill& grey feet. what is it?

[Fisher Dave]

Was there anything distinguishing (unusual) about the bill? Did it seem swollen or stocky?

Was there any white or grey on the underside of the body?

The bird that is coming to my mind is a Surf Scoter. If I recall correctly the legs werent grey on them tho. The bill appears kinda swollen or irregular on the top. They are very dark, and the hens are a very dark brown, or almost black. Its been a while since I seen one, but harvested 3 in one season in Minnesota in the mid 90's. A conservation officer identified one for me. He was scratching his head too. These birds dont belong around here, but they do occasionaly show up. They are a coastal bird.

I would try a search engine and look for the USGS duck identification websites or Ducks unlimited (ducks.org) if I remember right. The answer is out there somewhere.

Greater Northern Land of Lakes Super Coot ???

someone has the right answer .. wish I could help more, I'm curious too, would like to be able to see the bird.

[EW6]

How about an Eider? They have a black stripe across the head, but there is a considerable amount of white on the body and so not "all black as you say," take a look at Google Images and type in "duck eider" and see if that looks similar.

It is funny that you say that you shot one this morning cause I am about 90% sure I had a Drake Oldsquaw, another ocean duck that doesn't belong in Minnesota, skirt my decoys this morning in the Paynesville area. Two years ago we shot an Oldsquaw hen in the same location, and so I thought it could be one, but I didn't get a perfect ID on it before it was long gone. Also two years ago we bagged some surf scooters, and they were completely black so that may infact be what you shot. Either way I am sure you bagged an ocean duck, not unheard of but a real trophy in my book. Just curious, were you hunting big water or a small pond? I do a bit of hunting in the Morris area also and wouldn't mind adding an Eider to my list of species some day, who knows if there are any others maybe you can push them my way.

[Steve Foss]

Yup, you've got a scoter. There are black, white-winged and surf scoters. Migration occasionally brings all three species in from the coast, and around Duluth we see each of them once in awhile. I think you've got a surf scoter, although it could be a black. If the bill looks misshapen, like somebody broke their nose from getting punched, it's likely a surf scoter. If it's shaped very much like a mallard bill, it's a black scoter.

For a look at a surf scoter, go to: http://lavoieverte.qc.ec.gc.ca/faune/guide/html/macreuse_fbl_e.html

No idea on the legality of taking one.

How'd it taste?

[This message has been edited by stfcatfish (edited 10-20-2002).]

[This message has been edited by stfcatfish (edited 10-20-2002).]

[I Like Worms]

We hunt west of Alex out by Lowry. A few years ago, my dad shot a scooter out there. He happened to be participating in the dnr thing where you send in the wings of the ducks you get for some study, he sent that in. Would have liked to seen the look on the guys face trying to initially figure that one out.

[This message has been edited by I Like Worms (edited 10-21-2002).]

[Ol'MarbleEyes]

Definitely a Scoter!! Sounds like a Surf to me but could possibly be a Black. Know them well as I shot a bunch out in Maine a few years back!! Also shot 3 Surf's south of Detroit Lakes a couple of years ago!! Very uncommon but not unheard of!! Was it a single or did it have friends with it?? You never know what's going to come into the dekes do ya!!!

[radke22]

Without a doubt hen black scoter. found a picture of it in a duck id book. it had one other bird folowing it. came in like a typical diver low and fast. about a 15 yard shot. the other bird didn't want to leave it behind and circled out of range at least 10X

[Guest]

I had a chance at 2 White Winged Scoters last year on Winni. A drake and a hen. I thought they were bluebills at first, and did not shoot because I already had my 3 bills in the bag. They flew 10 yards from me and as they passed I was like "What the??" I didn't know what they were until it was too late, and I ruled out they were bills at that time.
Be careful out there, if you dont know what you are shooting at, don't shoot!