From south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Wed Jan 5 13:09:12 2005 Received: from www.plaidworks.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id j05L7AGp010528 for <[[email protected]]>; Wed, 5 Jan 2005 13:07:11 -0800 (PST) Received: from rwcrmhc13.comcast.net (rwcrmhc13.comcast.net [204.127.198.39]) by plaidworks.com (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id j05L5PAf010482 for <[[email protected]]>; Wed, 5 Jan 2005 13:05:25 -0800 (PST) Received: from 204.127.197.119 ([204.127.197.119]) by comcast.net (rwcrmhc13) with SMTP id <2005010521052301500c591ce>; Wed, 5 Jan 2005 21:05:23 +0000 Received: from [24.6.248.198] by 204.127.197.119; Wed, 05 Jan 2005 21:05:22 +0000 From: [[email protected]] To: [[email protected]] (SBB Chat Group) Date: Wed, 05 Jan 2005 21:05:22 +0000 Message-Id: <[[email protected]]> X-Mailer: AT&T Message Center Version 1 (Nov 22 2004) X-Authenticated-Sender: YmlyZGVybW9tQGNvbWNhc3QubmV0 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.5b1 Subject: [SBB] 1/4/05 Ducks at Shoreline X-BeenThere: [[email protected]] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5b1 Precedence: list List-Id: South Bay Birding List-Unsubscribe: , List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Sender: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Errors-To: south-bay-birds-bounces+south-bay-birds-archive=[[email protected]] Hi! Yesterday, at about 2pm, after bumping into Al Eisner (who alerted me to the findings), I checked the pond across the road from the Shoreline Golf Links Course parking lot. It was overcast and there was no wind - perfect conditions for seeing vivid colors and long distances. I saw 7 male EURASION WIDGEONS spread across the bay (I didn't even try to find females). You may wonder how I could spot 7 and keep them separate - look at the end of this message if you want the full story. I wondered too, since the pond also had dozens of REDHEADS and hundreds of American Widgeons, both sleeping and swimming, which I thought would be easy to confuse them with at a distance. After continuing to scan the bay for over 1 1/2 hours, I was unable to spot a Tufted Duck. On Shoreline Lake, the PELAGIC CORMORANT was still happily fishing. Didn't have the patience to determine if the tiny spots on the far side of the lake included Barrows. Happy Birding! Jean Myers Duck Scramble (or Way to Party, Duckies!) How to tell apart Redheads from Eurasion Widgeons at a great distance, that became the worry of the day for someone like me, who has no prior experience finding either of these ducks on my own. The field guide showed two same-sized ducks with grey sides, red on the sides of their heads and black nether regions. I felt that the only way I had a chance was if I could see the different colored chests ( pinkish in Eurasion Widgeon and black in Redhead), or the white between the black back end and gray sides of the Eurasion Widgeon. I really was wrong. In this instance, with the weather producing near-perfect viewing conditions and the ducks behaving so different, the markings I was looking for were really insignificant. Thank the Lord they weren't all sleeping or flying! The Widgeons (both kinds) were performing a New Years' dance! There were approximately 25-30 dances going on over the length of the bay. Each group was swimming in a long, narrow circle (looked like a buttonhole), while the males periodically dipped their bill in a scooping motion (little droplets splashing upwards) while making little chirpy duck sounds (ok, so I didn't analyze the sound, and the females could have been making the sounds too). It was really a test of patience as I scanned the bay for over an hour checking out the dances on the other side of the bay. My first sighting of a male Eurasion Widgeon came after scanning scores of sleeping ducks throughout the near bayand several dance circles near the back. It looked nothing like the ones I've seen previously, due to the fact that I could see it clearly this time with vivid colors and it wasn;t asleep! The glowing, stately rusty red side of its' head was easy to spot amongst the throngs of grey/green and white heads of the American Widgeons. The top of the Eurasion Widgeon's head had a duller, yellowish tinge that didn't catch the light like the white atop the American Widgeon's head. The Eurasion Widgeon seemed to me like a proud, long-necked duck (almost all the ducks performing this dance had their necks extended), with a rich, superior look about him, as if to say "ta-da - I'm more than you asked for, wouldn't you say"! Yes, indeed. The white near the hind section was helpfull, but not what caught my eye, as it swam with so many other ducks with similar coloring back there... In order to find 7 Eurasion Widgeons, I simply scanned the entire bay from left to right, counting red widgeon heads doing the New Year's Dance! The Redheads were showing their superiority and skittishness by cruising all over the bay at a rapid pace, as if scouting for danger at all times. Most had mates with them (while only some of the American Widgeons were swimming in pairs). They were particularly skittish about having a scope pointed at them. After scouting so many Canvasback flocks at other locations earlier in the day, I was encouraged by Al's statement that there were only Redheads in this bay. They were easy to spot, with necks extended while cruising through fields of sleeping ducks (I guess they believe in letting sleeping ducks lie). The red on their heads was much more of a bright Mexican rusty red - in this light they appeared as red Christmas ornaments amongst a sea of duller ornaments (after scanning the bay for over an hour my eyes started to blur). Non of the mud-sucking, eat anything look of a Canvasback. Also, their bluish/white beaks really contrasted with the color of their heads and the cuter, sloping shape of the bill was easy to spot at a distance. It just goes to show you that you can't count your ducks until they've hatched (and grown up and swam the New Year's Dance)! _______________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored. south-bay-birds mailing list ([[email protected]]) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: http://www.plaidworks.com/mailman/options/south-bay-birds/south-bay-birds-archive%40plaidworks.com This email sent to [[email protected]]