Rick,



Excellent shots. That's the bird in question for sure. In your photo you can
see the prominent speculum borders and green and black speculum, the subtle
Garganey-like face pattern, the rather sloping head-bill profile, and the
rather grayish dorsal tone to the plumage, all of which attracted our
attention and seemed unlike a female Green-winged Teal. Thanks for posting.



Gene

Lake Forest Park, WA

enhunn323 at comcast.net



From: tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman2.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Rick
Hibpshman
Sent: Wednesday, January 06, 2010 9:28 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: [Tweeters] photos of the Magnuson Park mystery teal



Like previous descriptions, this duck dove repeatedly, much like an alcid.
It did not associate with any other green-winged teals, several of which
hung out together on the shoreline of few dozen yards away. The speculum
was the most distinctive thing i noted in the field, being very obvious
while it swam, compared to the barely visible speculum of the green-winged
teal females that were seen swimming in other ponds at the park. The
anterior border of the speculum was a cream color, while the posterior
border was more white. Its facial patterns were more distinct than other
green-winged teals, but less distinctive than the field guide pictures of
female and eclipse male garganey. I've posted a couple of pictures on my
Flickr page.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/crappywildlifephotography/


Rick Hibpshman
Issaquah, WA

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