Subject: [Tweeters] Ridgefield NWR: BW Teal x Shoveler Hybrid, SE Owls
Date: Nov 29 20:10:32 2008
From: Scott Carpenter - slcarpenter at gmail.com


This afternoon at Ridgefield NWR in Clark County I observed what appears to
be a BLUE-WINGED TEAL X NORTHERN SHOVELER hybrid. I saw it from the blind
at the River S Unit. From the shoveler perspective, the bird had a green
head, yellow eye, rufous flanks, and a shoveler like bill. From the
blue-winged teal perspective, it had the white crescent on the face, and was
about the same size as nearby Cinnamon Teal. The white "hip patch" was
present, but had a cinnamon wash to it.

The flank color was about the same as the nearby Cinnamon Teal, as was the
size of the bird. I initially focused on this and thought it was a Cinnamon
x Blue-winged Teal. However, I ran into the bird again and the green head
and yellow eye caught my attention. This, cominbed with the bill
structure/size, caused me to rethink my initial assessment, and conclude it
was a BLUE-WINGED TEAL x NORTHERN SHOVELER.

Photos (poor, but sufficient) of this bird are online at:
http://westerngrebe.com/anas_hybrid/

Also present on Rest Lake were a male EURASIAN WIGEON as well as an apparent
hybrid male AMERICAN X EURASIAN WIGEON (in some of the photos referenced
above); both of these birds were present last week, too. An adult BALD
EAGLE put on quite a show attempting to nab a coot. Despite the eagle
landing in the water at one point, the coot somehow managed to escape.

Both the ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK and the dark morph RED-TAILED HAWK put in
appearances, as did 3 SHORT-EARED OWLS that first appeared around 4:40 pm.
Last week around the same time and place I had only 1 SHORT-EARED OWL. Also
a repeat of last week just before sunset was the influx of 500+ SANDHILL
CRANES that are apparently roosting on the edge of Rest Lake, best observed
from the south end of Rest Lake.

Once again, Swainson's Hawk was written on the board as having been seen
perched in a tree between posts 9 and 10. Unfortunately, all I could turn
up in that area were several Red-tailed Hawks.

Scott Carpenter
Portland, Oregon