White-winged Scoters at the Nazareth Quarry! ~ February 9, 2026

After running an errand in Forks Township, I drove past the Tatamy exit and took a look around to see if the Rough-legged Hawk might be there. It wasn't. Since I was near the Nazareth Quarry, I decided to stop there and check it out. I walked to the fence and noticed two dark birds in the near end of the quarry. When I put my binoculars on them, I was surprised to see a pair of White-winged Scoters! I got some distant, but fairly good documentation photos of them, and then sent out a text to the other birders.

A pair of White-winged Scoters.

A good number of 16 Greater Scaup were present, too. I didn't find any apparent Lesser Scaup among them.

Five Greater Scaup with a single Ruddy Duck.

Adam Miller showed up a little while later. He picked out a male Red-breasted Merganser through the brush. I got a few documentation photos of that.

Red-breasted Merganser

A female Red-breasted Merganser was at the opposite end of the quarry from the male. More searching picked out an impressive list that included around 60 Ruddy Ducks, 25 Redheads, 17 Common Goldeneye, 13 Buffleheads, 9 American Black Ducks, 6 Mallards, 5 Ring-necked Ducks, a Green-winged Teal, 26 Common Mergansers, 17 American Coots, a Pied-billed Grebe, only 10 Canada Geese and 7 Snow Geese, plus 11 Ring-billed Gulls, an adult Bald Eagle, a Cooper's Hawk, and a Common Raven. I was so glad that I didn't go straight back home.

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