Red-necked Grebes and Black Scoters at BESP

Since Drew and I are living in the State College area for this year and the next, the posts on this site will be quite centered around Centre County, PA. As you might have read, Drew is attempting a Centre County Big year, while I am desperately trying to catch up (although I just started birding in the county August 23rd). On Monday, Drew found two very rare species at Bald Eagle State Park, so I ran over there quick between classes. The species were Red-necked Grebes and Black Scoters. The grebes (one adult and two juveniles) were right were Drew had found them, except they were way too far out for photos, so I drove to the other side of the lake and managed to get fairly close for the photo below.

Red-necked Grebes

Black Scoters are deep sea ducks that are rarely found inland, and I have never seen them before away from the ocean. There was a raft of 9 at the state park. This species was a new state bird for both Drew and I.

Raft of 9 Black Scoters

Photos by Alex Lamoreaux