Tweeters/Adam,

I've been wondering why female Blue-winged Teal wasn't in the mix. I
got a look at Gene's photos and thats what it reminded me of.

Larry Schwitters
Issaquah
On Jan 5, 2010, at 5:22 PM, Adam Sedgley wrote:

> Hi Tweets,
>
> I was also struck by an unusual "teal" on the afternoon of Dec 30
> and the morning of Dec 31, which I wrote off as an unusual Green-
> winged Teal. Having no previous experience with Garganey, I
> consulted "Birds of Europe" (Mullarney et al, Princeton, 1999)
> before I went out to Magnuson Park. After some study of the female
> Garganey, Green-winged (albeit the European "Common") and Blue-
> winged Teals illustrated side-by-side in this book, it seemed that
> the true test was to separate the female Garganey from a female Blue-
> winged Teal, rather than a Green-winged (GWTE). According to this
> book, Garganey (GARG) and Blue-winged (BWTE) are identical in size
> (37-41cm - while "Common" are slightly smaller at 34-38cm). Both
> BWTE and GARG also exhibit a pale patch at the base of the bill, but
> the facial markings, though similar, are more contrasting on the
> female GARG with the addition of second, softer dark line that
> parallels the supercilium across the cheek.
>
> One field mark they highlighted was a pale patch of feathers just to
> the side of the GWTE undertail coverts, which both GARG and BWTE
> lack. I found this to be quite helpful in the field and found it
> interesting that all GWTE at Magnuson exhibited this field mark. If
> I remember correctly, the unusual "Green-winged Teal" (assumed to be
> the teal in question) did exhibit this patch but it was more
> streaked than on other GWTE present. I quickly moved past it
> because my search image was an unusual female BWTE which I had yet
> to find.
>
> I would love the opportunity to study this bird closer so if anyone
> has photos, please post them.
>
> Above all else, I really appreciated the opportunity to explore this
> new habitat. It will certainly only improve as it matures!
>
> --
> Adam Sedgley
> S e a t t l e, WA
> sedge.thrasher [at] gmail [dot] com
>
>
> On Tue, Jan 5, 2010 at 3:26 PM, Matt Bartels <mattxyz at earthlink.net>
> wrote:
>
> Hi Tweets -
>
> A question for the "Garganey" watchers this weekend: Was the 'odd'
> duck that many of us observed the same bird as the one described by
> Gene & Brien? I think of all the people there, someone must have
> taken some pictures of that odd one. I ran across many people who
> commented on it, at least.
>
> If anyone has pictures of it, it might help to share those via a url
> or email -- Gene & Brien in particular might be able to compare it
> with what they observed to see whether it looks familiar.
>
> Best,
>
> Matt Bartels
> Seattle, WA
>
> -----Original Message-----
> >From: Eugene and Nancy Hunn
> >Sent: Jan 5, 2010 12:55 PM
> >To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
> >Subject: [Tweeters] re. the Maguson Park "Garganey"
> >
> >Tweets,
> >
> >
> >
> >After an study of the bird in question last Sunday and after
> comparisons of
> >various photos of the bird in question and comparison shots, Brien
> and I are
> >of the opinion that it is probably not a Garganey. That leaves the
> question
> >of what it might be otherwise. Most likely a quite odd, seemingly
> aberrant
> >Green-winged or Common Teal. Aberrant in that the speculum borders
> are very
> >conspicuous while those of virtually all the Green-winged Teal we've
> >observed are invisible on the swimming bird and rather obscure when
> visible.
> >The face pattern provides a superficial match to a female-type
> Garganey but
> >is not as contrasting as it should be and is identical to at least
> some
> >female Green-winged Teals. The bird in question behaves in an unusual
> >fashion, not only by diving repeatedly but also by avoiding the
> other teals
> >there and demonstrating much more active feeding and some aggressive
> >interactions with a male Green-winged Teal. The behavior and the
> striking
> >speculum borders are what first called our attention to the bird
> and what
> >made it stand out as something quite out of the ordinary. However,
> the
> >behaviors don't clearly point to a Garganey, nor to a Green-winged
> or Common
> >Teal either.
> >
> >
> >
> >Our apologies to those who got wet and tired looking for it. At
> least it was
> >a learning experience and highlights a new and promising bit of
> habitat here
> >in Seattle. If you are in the vicinity please see if you can pick
> it out, as
> >we're still quite puzzled as to it's true identity. Better photos
> desired.
> >
> >
> >
> >Gene Hunn (Brien concurs)
> >
> >Lake Forest Park, WA
> >
> >enhunn323 at comcast.net
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tweeters mailing list
> Tweeters at u.washington.edu
> http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tweeters mailing list
> Tweeters at u.washington.edu
> http://mailman2.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/pipermail/tweeters/attachments/20100105/43968f02/attachment.htm