Hello Tweeters,
I didn't know what a Storm Widgeon was either until last month. My wife, Carleen, and I led a Seattle Audubon Master Birder Class field trip to Port Townsend last month. We were at Kah Tai Lagoon, when one of the sharp-eyed students, Andy Jacobson, found a unusual colored widgeon in the big flock of American Widgeons. Andy said it was a "Storm Widgeon". He knew what it was but it was a term I have heard before but never knew what it was. We whipped out our phones and in seconds found out that "Only a few hunters and very few birders know this striking bird. It is a natural variant American Wigeon with an all-white face rather than speckled gray." Supposedly shows up with storms hence the name.
Yesterday, Carleen and I led a Seattle Audubon field trip again to Kah Tai Lagoon. After looking through a couple hundred American Widgeons and a couple of Eurasian Widgeons, a Storm Widgeon was found. Probably the same bird. Too far from us to get any photos, but pretty much everyone got a look at this interesting bird.
This reinforces the idea that unusual birds are found by looking at every bird.
Anyone else heard this name or seen this bird?

http://sandiegogreg.blogspot.com/2014/03/storm-wigeon.html

Neil Zimmerman
Brier, WA