Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Surf Scoter (Melanitta perspicillata)

Abundance: Very Uncommon (at least 43 records from 9 counties, 5 in Kentucky and 4 in Tennessee) during late fall and early winter; Rare during late spring.

Status: Transient during late fall (23 records)/early winter (15 records) and late spring (5 records); photographs (see links below).

Regional High Count: 22 (5 December 2005; Fishing Creek Recreation Area (9) and Waitsboro Recreation Area (13), Pulaski County, Kentucky; Roseanna M. Denton photo [Fishing Creek scoters only]; Palmer-Ball and McNeeley 2006b).

Information on Records: 

26 October 1975 (1) Center Hill Lake, DeKalb County, Tennessee (William J. Jones, Bill Varney; Williams 1976a).

23 October 1988 (1--female or immature) Cane Creek Park, Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman photo; Stedman 1993), photo.

29 November 1992 (1--female or immature) Walker Pond, Monterey, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman, Barbara H. Stedman; Stedman 1993).

7 May 1996 (1) Cane Creek Park, Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee (Tommy A. Edwards unpubl. data).

21-22 November 1996 (4) Cane Creek Park, Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman, Barbara H. Stedman et al. unpubl. data).

16 November 1997 (1--female or immature) Monterey Lake, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman; Knight 1998a).

27 November 1997 (1--immature) Cane Creek Park, Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman; Fekel 1998a).

1 December 1997 (1--female or immature) Barren River Reservoir, Barren County, Kentucky (David L. Roemer; Busroe 1998b).

23 October 1998 (6) Floating Mill Recreation Area, Center Hill Lake, DeKalb County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman, Barbara H. Stedman; Fekel 1999a).

20 November 1998 (1) Waitsboro Recreation Area, Lake Cumberland, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton unpubl. data).

5 January 2000 (1) Lake Cumberland, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton; Busroe 2000b).

25/26 April 2000 (3/1)  Barren River Reservoir, Barren County, Kentucky (David L. Roemer, Brainard Palmer-Ball/David Chaffin, Lester Doyle; Busroe 2000c).

6 May 2000 (1--second-year male) near Alum Ford, Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, McCreary County, Kentucky (Daniel L. Combs, Stephen J. Stedman; Stedman and Stedman 2002).

7 May 2000 (1--immature male) Barren River Reservoir, Barren County, Kentucky (David L. Roemer; Busroe 2000c).

23 November 2000 (2) Harvest Farm Lake, Warren County, Tennessee (C. Douglas Malone, Crystal Malone unpubl. data).

3/4 December 2000 (5--3 adult male, 1 immature male, 1 female/1 female) Barren River Reservoir, Barren County, Kentucky (David L. Roemer photo, on earlier date; Busroe 2001b [notes just 1 bird each day]).

4 December 2000 (1) Floating Mill Recreation Area, Center Hill Lake, DeKalb County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman; Casteel 2001b).

7 December 2001 (1--female or immature) Floating Mill Recreation Area, Center Hill Lake, DeKalb County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman; Casteel 2002b).

8 December 2001 (2) Fishing Creek Recreation Area, Lake Cumberland, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton unpubl. data).

9 December 2001 (2) Waitsboro Recreation Area, Lake Cumberland, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton unpubl. data), possibly the same 2 scoters as in the preceding record.

11 December 2001 (13--6 adult males, 2 immature males, 5 females or immatures) Floating Mill Recreation Area, Center Hill Lake, DeKalb County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman; Casteel 2002b).

1 November 2002 (4--females or immatures) Cane Creek Park, Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman; Casteel 2003a).

1/17 November 2002 (2/2) Waitsboro Recreation Area, Lake Cumberland, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton; Busroe 2003a).

5-16 November 2002 (1--female or immature) Celina sewage lagoons, Clay County, Tennessee (Terry M. Campbell photo, Stephen J. Stedman, Winston A. Walden; Casteel 2003a), photo.

27 November 2002  (2--females or immatures) Barren River Reservoir, Barren County, Kentucky (David L. Roemer; Busroe 2003a).

7 November 2003 (9) Goose Island, Barren River Reservoir, Barren County, Kentucky (David L. Roemer; Palmer-Ball and McNeeley 2004a).

9 November 2003 (3) Fishing Creek Recreation Area, Lake Cumberland, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton; Palmer-Ball and McNeeley 2004a).

5 November 2004 (2) Mystic View, Lake Cumberland, Wayne County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton unpubl. data).

12 December 2004 (1--female or immature) Cane Creek Park, Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman; Casteel 2005b).

12 December 2004 (1--male) Waitsboro Recreation Area, Lake Cumberland, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton; Palmer-Ball and McNeeley 2005b).

5 December 2005 (9/13) Fishing Creek Recreation Area/Waitsboro Recreation Area, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton photo; Palmer-Ball and McNeeley 2006b), photo [Fishing Creek scoters only].

6 December 2005 (2--females or immatures) Wolf Creek Dam, Lake Cumberland, Russell County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton; Palmer-Ball and McNeeley 2006b).

23 May 2006 (1--second-year male) Cane Creek Park, Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman; Casteel 2006c).

12 November 2006 (2) Waitsboro Recreation Area, Lake Cumberland, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton; Palmer-Ball and McNeeley 2007a).

15 November 2006 (6--including 3 adult males and 1 adult female) Skaggs Creek, Barren River Reservoir, Barren County, Kentucky (David L. Roemer; Palmer-Ball and McNeeley 2007a).

27 December 2006 (1--female or immature) Cane Creek Park, Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman unpubl. data).

25 October 2007 (1) Waitsboro Recreation Area, Lake Cumberland, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton unpubl. data).

23 November 2007 (1) Waitsboro Recreation Area, Lake Cumberland, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton unpubl. data).

14 December 2007 (3--one male and 2 females or immatures) Wolf Creek Dam, Lake Cumberland, Russell County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton unpubl. data), a CBC record.

30 November 2008 (4--males) Wolf Creek Dam/Rowena Rd., Lake Cumberland, Russell County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton unpubl. data).

12 December 2008 (1--female or immature) Clifty Pond, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton photo and unpubl. data).

17 October 2009 (1) Wolf Creek Dam, Russell County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton unpubl. data).

16 November 2009 (1) Waitsboro Recreation Area, Lake Cumberland, Pulaski County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton unpubl. data).

Regional Extreme Dates:

    Fall:  17 October 2009 (1; Russell County, Kentucky; Roseanna M. Denton)-5 January 2000 (1; Pulaski County, Kentucky; Roseanna M. Denton; Busroe 2000b).

    Spring: 25 April 2000 (3; Barren County, Tennessee; David L. Roemer, Brainard Palmer-Ball; Busroe 2000c)-23 May  2006 (1--second-year male; Putnam County, Tennessee; Stephen J. Stedman; Casteel 2006c).

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: No registrations.

Habitat: Medium- to large-sized lakes.

Remarks: With 43 sightings, the Surf Scoter is the most frequently encountered scoter in the Region, easily eclipsing both White-winged (14) and Black (13) scoters in total number of records accumulated Regionally.  Note the absence of records from early January to late April, as well as the small number of sightings during spring migration.

    Presence often the result of, or at least correlated with, inclement weather systems.  Only one Regional instance of presence at a site for a period of more than 1 or 2 days, that being a 12-day stay in Clay County, Tennessee.  Often associates with scaup and other diving ducks in migratory flocks.

Counties with Observations (boldfaced):

To see a map (Figure 1) displaying the data in the table above, click on the boldfaced word in this sentence.

Literature Cited