COMMON SCOTER MELANITTA NIGRA & VELVET SCOTER MELANITTA FUSCA

One of the more unexpected results of the aerial surveys in 2007 was the high numbers of Scoters and especially Black Scoters found in the surveyed areas. As can be seen from the Table below the total estimated number of Black Scoter in the region was 40000 with an additional 6100 Velvet Scoters.  In 2009 only smaller numbers of Scoters were found in Baltic waters. The same was the case in 2010, 2011 and 2016 .

Unfortunately few comparable data are available for these two species but there are a number of boat counts along transects mainly from Hanöbukten and the south coast during the 1960s and 1970s which can give some indications. During those years the Common Scoter was only seen in very small numbers in Hanöbukten and along the coast of Skåne, vhereas there were flocks of Velvet Scoters in Hanöbukten also in those years. The large numbers of Black Scoters in the Kalmarsund (and also east of Öland) seem also to be new. Large flocks of Black Scoters were also seen at SW Scania in the winter of 2006.

COMMON SCOTER MELANITTA NIGRA

 

OMRÅDE	2007	2009	2010	2011	2016
Falsterbohalvön	2100	470	300	375	1900
Skåne sydkust	500	430		0	140
Skåne sydost				0	0
Hanöbukten	13500	300		238	0
Blekinge ytterzon	0	0		0	0
Kalmarsund	20600	60	150	25	210
Öland ostkust	3200	560		500	0
Ölands norra grund	0	0	0	0	0
Midsjöbankarna		0	63	0	0
Hoburgs Bank		40	2110	338	0
Gotlands ostkust		0		25	0
Gotska sandön mm				0	100
Gotlands Västkust (land)					0
Kalmar skärg				Is	0
Österg  skärg				Is	0
Sörml. Skärg				Is	0
Stockholms skärg				Is	0
Upplands kust				Is	0
Gävlebukten				Is	0
TOTALSUMMA	39900	1860	2623	1501	2350

The west coast of Sweden was only counted in 2009, when one aerial survey was made. Scoters were found in the traditional areas in rhe southern part of Kattegatt in numbers estimated below.