Subject: [Tweeters] Very strange wigeon
Date: Dec 7 16:03:02 2014
From: Jason Hernandez - jason.hernandez74 at yahoo.com


So I was at Evergreen Rotary Park in Bremerton, and saw that the American Wigeon flock has now swelled to about 450 or so (hard to count the furthest ones, especially in thick fog!).? The Eurasian pair is still among them, but in addition, now I saw, close-up, something most curious indeed -- two with very unusual head coloration.? On one, the normally white forehead was a bright cream, almost yellow, and so were the cheeks, clear and unstreaked; and on another, right next to him, the same bright cream forehead, the cheeks half bright cream, half the normal gray streaked with black, with a sharp demarcation between the two zones.?

I was so startled, I stood and stared for a long time, to make sure I wasn't seeing things!? But yes, those two were distinctive, as shown by the hundreds of others around them which all looked normal.? When I got home, i even got out the bird guides and looked up the Baikal Teal -- but no, that has a different head pattern; these, except for the unusual colors, had definitely a wigeon pattern, and anyway the rest of their bodies were typical American Wigeon.
I just scrolled through a whole lot of images of American Wigeons, and I did not see any resembling what I saw today -- a few perhaps had a bit of cream in the white foreheads, but definitely no clear, unstreaked, cream cheeks.? Unfortunately, I had no camera with me, but since I am sure there are other members in Bremerton, and Evergreen Park is a popular place, perhaps someone else can verify that I was not imagining things?
Jason HernandezBremertonjason.hernandez74 at yahoo.com