3 weeks later...

Between a front-loaded work schedule this month and the general fun of a Michigan February I haven't been getting out that much. Photo standards are falling on a daily basis...

The scaup had re-accumulated between the piers, joined by this Long-tailed Duck.
Per my interpretation of Pyle, this bird appears to be a first cycle female in formative (first winter) plumage aspect, attained by a partial (pre-formative) body moult that runs from November to March. The fresh scapulars contrast the more worn flight feathers. Pyle depicts all non-juvenile males as having much more sharply pointed scapulars than this bird displays. In a first-cycle female these feathers are gray with whitish edges (this bird) whereas in an adult these feathers are brown with buffier edges. The pre-formative moult has also transitioned the sides and facial pattern to an appearance closer to a winter adult female's.


There's a black scoter sleeping in the next frame as well.

The title of the post is a reference to my post from Jan 21 where most of the Greater Scaup males had dusky sides. Now the birds are much whiter, though most still show some degree of duskiness to the sides.