Subject: Mystery Duck at 3 Crabs
Date: Mar 23 15:27:52 1997
From: bboek at olympus.net - bboek at olympus.net


Tweeters:

There is a mystery small diving duck present off the 3 Crabs Restaurant,
at Dungeness, WA. I viewed it today (Sunday, 3/23/97) for over an hour
(10:30-12:15) with Bob Norton, Gene Kridler, Jack and Pat Fletcher, Paul
Conklin, and Ruth Merryman.

I will post a complete description as soon as I have it written, but if
any of you have a moment to come see it, please do so, as we are
presently stumped.

The bird appears to be _Bucephala_ type, intermediate in size between
Common Goldeneye and Bufflehead, but it has much more white in the face
than either Goldeneye or Bufflehead. The whole side of the face is
white, with white collar, neck, and breast. The forehead, crown, and
back of head are dark, outlining the face much like a basic plumage
Kittlitz's Murrelet face, although the dark outlining the perimeter of
this bird's face just touches the leading and upper edge of the eye. The
dark on the head has a greenish iridescence to it, much like the dark
plumage on the face of a Bufflehead. The rest of the bird from the
shoulders back appears to be very similar to a male Bufflehead, very
white below and black above. Its bill is small, dark, and
_Bucephala_-shaped, but more like a Goldeneye than a Bufflehead, and its
feet are orange. I will describe it further in another post.

The bird is present with Buffleheads, Common Goldeneyes, Surf Scoters,
and Greater Scaup within 100-300 meters of the shore, mostly to the west
of the pilings offshore the restaurant. It dives repeatedly, interacting
mostly with Goldeneyes, but also with the other ducks.

We have consulted virtually every North American field guide, other
international field guides, Bellrose's _Ducks, Geese, and Swans of North
America_, and Peter Scott's _Waterfowl of the World_, but nothing fits.
It leads us to wonder, are there _Bucephala_ hybrids with extensive white
on the face?

If anyone has a moment (or longer) to come see this bird, please do so
and let us know.

Bob Boekelheide
Sequim




Bob and Barb Boekelheide, bboek at olympus.net