Here is a sleeping Black Scoter, again by itself you might pass it off as just another Gadwall or Ruddy but the placement and shape of the cheek patch, size and coloration is different. There is a slight tonal difference in the overall body color. This has been by far the best year for Black Scoters in the mid-south, a duck I once thought to be an extreme treat when I stumbled across one, has really bloomed along with Surf Scoters. This may be due to the Zebra Mussel expanding down the interior waterways providing a favorite food or even their numbers growing because of the abundant supply of this invasive mussel in these Scoter's breeding areas.