Crab Lunch

These are some photos of a female White-winged Scoter feasting on crabs. She caught quite a few while I watched.

This was the last one I saw her catch. It took her a while to get it positioned so that she could swallow it. Quite a meal!

Yes, she swallowed the entire crab. Scoters can swallow clams, oysters and mussels and then crush them in their gizzard. So a crab shell is no problem for them. Watching this crab fest reminded me that Mardi Gras is less than a week away. Lots of people celebrate with New Orleans style food and crabs are a big part of the cuisine. However, I will have my crab in a gumbo and wash it down with a nice New England hazy IPA!