Hi Tweets;

There were two Northern Shovelers on the Golden Gardens pond this morning
and I have a question on one of them. One looked just like any female with
the gray-green bill edged with orange, the other looked identical except the
bill was completely orange. All plumage was identical, no color on coverts
or specula (speculums?) were visible. It didn't look like an eclipse male,
was it just a female with an orange bill or something else, like a juvenile?
They were doing the circular feeding thing, their bodies pointing in
opposite directions, their heads close together side by side, swimming in
tight circles with the heads mostly submerged...

================
Cliff Drake
Seattle, WA
ardea at qwest.net