It's looking like we may have a visiting BAIKAL TEAL in a flooded
pasture south of Seaside, OR. I fould the bird yesterday and it
was relocated today. The bird is best view from an ODFW fisherman's
pull out south of Seaside on Hwy 101 just past a drinking establishment
called the RELIEF PITCHER

Mike Patterson wrote on 11/11/2006:
>
> Assuming I saw a BAIKAL TEAL, I don't think it was an adult
> female which both Madge and Burn and the few photos I could find
> all show a prominent white bar forward of the dark bar. The
> bird I saw did not show that. This leaves eclipse male which
> does approximately match M and B. Description and drawings at:
> http://home.pacifier.com/~mpatters/obrc/teal20061111.html

Jeff Gilligan wrote on 11/12/2006:
>
> As David indicated I believe that we saw the bird described earlier by Mike
> Patterson. The apparently unmarked yellowish-buff patch was very prominent
> at the front of the bird's face. From the distance we saw it, binoculars
> weren't very usable, but a 30X scope brought it in quite well. I didn't
> have a lot of time to study the bird other than its face, since all of our
> group was not present when it was first located, and I had to get the third
> person in our party to see it. By then the bird had moved, and it took a
> while to relocate it - and then only one of us had it in our scope view, so
> we each took a few short looks at it before it and the rest of the flock
> flew toward Seaside.
>
> I should emphasis that the yellowish buff area at the front of the face is
> nothing like anything that I have seen on a Green-winged Teal, and that it
> doesn't make sense for any common species at any plumage. The color seemed
> to match the color of full adult alternate plumage male Baikal Teal in the
> various photos that I have looked at. I think that was readily agreed to by
> all three of us. It is very much unlike the wide variety of plumage
> variations of female and partially eclipse plumage Green-winged Teal that
> were present or that I have previously seen. The pale area is not at all
> like the plainer-faced female Green-winged Teal that were in the area. It
> is far too large, distinct, colorful, and bright to compare to the sometimes
> pale faces of female Green-winged Teal.

--
Mike Patterson
Astoria, OR
celata at pacifier.com

I'm not jealous or
Why I've never Seen Black-throated Blue Warbler in Oregon
http://www.surfbirds.com/blogs/mbalame/archives/004174.html