Well I did beat last year’s January total bird species! Last year I had seen 102 for the month of January, so far this year I have 150! I went out birding this morning, but I didn’t see too many birds. I did find this Lesser Scaup swimming alone in a canal.

Their diet varies with the seasons and habitat, they forage mostly by diving and swimming underwater. Eating mostly clams, snails and plant materials. They can be found throughout the US, Canada and Mexico.

The Lesser Scaup and Greater Scaup look similar and sometimes it is difficult to know just which species you are looking at. Above is a Lesser Scaup, take note of the peak at the back of the crown of his head, that and his bill is slightly smaller than the Greater Scaup, those are the main differences between the two species. Below is a Greater Scaup, can you tell the difference?