1/19 - Hi all. I have some words of caution about Scoter identification generally, and at Stratford in particular. Black Scoter is the least common wintering species in CT, behind the much more common Surf Scoter and White-winged Scoter. I caution that immature male Surf Scoters often show orange on their upper bills, and some can show little or no white on their heads. I suspect some birders misidentify such individuals as Black Scoters. In these instances, it is best to use several other field marks to confirm the ID as Black Scoter. Black Scoters are the smallest of the three species, and have a different (more rounded) head shape than Surf, and the bill shape is also different.  I bring this up because it is often an annual situation where Black Scoters are misidentified. On Sat., Jan 15 Jeremy Nance (a very fine birder) entered 3 Black Scoters on his eBird list for Russian Beach/Cove Place Beach/Lordship Seawall, by accident. He meant to enter Surf Scoter, and corrected his error on eBird. Others who get rarity or needs alerts via eBird saw that he had reported the Blacks, but then don't get a corrected alert. Subsequently several birders since have claimed to have seen one or more Black Scoters at this area in Stratford, entered on ebird, but often/always with no details nor a description of the birds nor circumstances of the sighting. I personally bird that area about every other day, and have not seen any Black Scoters - just multiple Surfs and a few White-wingeds, as has been the case all late fall/winter.  This is just a cautionary note, with a request for observers to enter details/comments/descriptions on their ebird lists. And please obtain photos if possible. Respectfully, Frank Mantlik Stratford