TICKING THE VELVET

After seeing Steves post about scoters off Deal Pier,went over to see them this morning there must be 200 at least with at least 5 velvet scoters among them.I first saw them from the beach and then from the end of the pier,they were drifting on the incoming tide and then flying back to the start of the mussel bed I assume and repeating the process over and over,it is possible to pick out the velvets on the water with a bit of luck,they appear to be darker and slightly larger than their common cousins,and may show a bit of white on the wing,but in flight they are easily picked out as the white secondaries stand out.

VELVET SCOTER with 2 COMMON

VELVET SCOTER

Some of the 200 strong flock of scoters approximately 400 m off the end of Deal Pier

Apart from the scoters there were several Red Throated Divers,a few GCGrebes and Brent Geese,15 Lapwings,a couple of Guillemots and a pair of Shelduck flying by.