Surf Scoter
I was on the Imperial Beach Pier as I watched a pair of Surf Scoters head for the Pier from afar like a pair of tugboats on a mission. On their arrival, each proceeded to pull off the Mollusks attached to the Pier pilings. Once released, they thrashed the shelled creature about until the inner morsel was revealed and then it went down the hatch! Adult male Melanitta perspicillata at Imperial BEach, CA, 02-15-05, 20D 400/f5.6L.