I was in Vancouver last weekend and found a couple of interesting
things at the Lagoon in Stanley Park on Saturday. First there was a
trumpeter swan (as well as several Mute Swans). Is this guy resident at
the park or just coming in for the winter?
Also among the various essentially tame ducks was one
astoundingly beautiful little guy. It was just barely larger than a coot
with mostly white plumage but it was not the typical bright white
domestic duck. It had fine black markings over much of the body and
particularly the head and neck as well as some black patches on the
wings. Also the bill was quite small which I thought ruled out the
possibility of a partially albino teal. Any duck fanciers have any idea
what this is?

Jim Elder
jime at eskimo.com
Seattle, WA