Hi ya'all,

Here's my notes on the Garganey at Richland:

Eugene Hunn 1816 N. 57th St. Seattle, WA 98103

GARGANEY (Anas querquedula) at Richland, WA, December 22, 1994
Most likely an immature male of east Asian origin.

This bird was first located December 15, 1994 by Robert Woodley at the
north end of the Richland Yacht Club on the west bank of the Columbia
River in Richland, Benton Co., WA. It could not be relocated on
subsequent days until December 19, but has been seen at the same location
each day since through at least December 22, when Russell Rogers and I saw
it.

We observed it "dabbling" actively near shore (within 50-100 feet) for
about one hour between 10:30 AM and noon on a calm, cool, sunny day, the
sun at a 90 angle to our right. We used binoculars and scopes, including
Woodley's Questar. We also observed it actively preening, exposing the
full upper wing surface and caught occasional glimpses of the underwing.
Eventually it climbed up on the shore of the breakwater 100 feet opposite
(but inaccessible without a boat) where it preened and rested, showing its
belly and feet to good advantage. It had no leg bands nor did it show any
other sign of having been a captive. Woodley had seen it fly on at least
one previous occasion.

The bird foraged in the company of a male Mallard and a female American
Wigeon offering repeated side-by-side comparisons. It was much smaller
than the Mallard and slightly but noticeably smaller than the female
Wigeon. The most striking feature -- which alone rules out any other
possibility -- was the bold white margins to the dark green speculum,
continuously visible on the left wing (but for some reason usually
concealed on the right wing by overlapping body feathers). The upper
white border was slightly broader than the lower, contrary to the
statement in Greg D. Jackson's analysis, "Field Identification of Teal in
North America: Female-like Plumages -- Part II," in Birding 24(4):214-223
(1992), that if the borders are unequal, the upper margin will be
narrower. This statement is contradicted by the cover photograph on the
issue in which the lower left bird (identified as a likely immature male)
shows exactly the pattern of the Richland bird, bold speculum margins with
the upper margin slightly broader. It would appear that the boldness and
pattern of the speculum borders rules out the possibility that the bird
was a female.

It was also possible on several occasions to see the entire wing covert
panel. It was a medium to pale gray without bluish or brownish tones.
The gray of the wing panel was duller than that of the adult males
pictured on the cover of Birding 24(4), suggesting that it was the
Richland bird is an immature male. The primaries were medium gray, above
and below, the upper surface not contrastingly darker than the wing panel.
These features eliminate all other species of teals. The underwing
coverts were seen briefly once or twice as the bird preened. The sharply
contrasting pattern of dark in front, white behind was visible.

The face showed the typical "double-banded" face pattern of this species:
dark brown cap, pale supercilium [constricted or interrupted at the rear
of the eye], dark line through the eye [with no eye ring], pale sub-ocular
stripe, set off by a dark brownish cheek patch with a straight upper
margin. The fact that the supercilium was not whitish but dull grayish
brown also suggests that the bird was an immature. The lores were pale
grayish. The throat did not appear whitish, but this was perhaps due to
the fact that the bird fed actively much of the time "shoveler fashion,"
by extending its neck and bill forward on the water's surface, sweeping
the head side to side as it swam forward. This hid the throat from view
much of the time, and the throat feathers may have been discolored by the
material in the water.

The bill was uniformly dark gray, appearing blackish in shadow, and
notably slight in build, much less heavy that that of a Cinnamon Teal and
notably less heavy than the bill of a Blue-winged Teal. It most closely
resembled the Green-winged Teal in this respect. The bill was also
notably less heavy than most of the Garganey bills illustrated in the
photos in Jackson's article. This suggests that the bird is from an east
Asian population, as these have slighter bills than European birds, the
source of most of the photos in the article. An east Asian source also
lessens the likelihood that the bird could have been of captive origin.

The feet (seen when the bird climbed out on the bank), including the webs,
were uniformly gray, a shade or two paler than the bill. The undertail
coverts were white and the belly whitish with just the faintest hint of
indistinct scalloping. There were a few dark spots or short streaks on
the hindmost flanks. The breast and flanks were dark spotted, with a
distinct border between these spotted areas and the whitish belly and
undertail. However, the breast spotting paled in the center somewhat.
The chest appeared very lightly washed with a pale buffy tone, again
suggesting immaturity.

The bluntly pointed tail feathers had medium dark gray centers with narrow
pale margins and 2-3 pale cross "checks." The tertials were dark gray
with incomplete, narrow pale margins. Dorsal body feathers had gray brown
centers with distinct whitish margins giving a rather trim checkered
appearance to the back (though not quite as striking as the female
illustrated in Figure 1 of Jackson's article). A small patch of body
feathering just aft of the wrist of the wing showed distinct, broad buffy
margins, again, perhaps, suggesting immaturity. The overall tone of the
body feathering was paler and grayer than Green-winged or Cinnamon Teals
of this plumage type and perhaps also a shade paler and grayer than a
Blue-winged.

This is apparently the second winter record south of Alaska (the first was
from California). Woodley will attempt photos through his Questar, though
none had been taken to date and the bird was out of range of my 200 mm.