Re: [SBB] Conventional Wisdom, 8/4/07

[Jim Thomas <[[email protected]]>]

Bill, thanks for the helpful information. Ah sees! "Warm brown or 
rufous" is a good characterization of the color. The female Lesser Scaup 
in the photos Garrett Lau posted today look very much like the bird I 
saw, though mine didn't have even the slight amount of white around the 
bill shown in the photos.

-Jim Thomas

Bill Bousman wrote:
> Folks:
>
> Lesser Scaup have bred irregularly in the Bay area for at least one 
> hundred years.  The first time they were found in the South Bay was 
> the early 1980s and they have nested regularly for the last 20 years.  
> Probably the greatest concentrations in the last decade has been at 
> the Sunnyvale WPCP ponds.  They are late nesters and young birds are 
> seldom seen before August.  Along the south channel last week, 
> although I saw two pairs, there were no young yet.  The female Lesser 
> Scaup in summer looks quite different from a winter bird.  To me, her 
> coloration seems a warm brown or rufous, much richer than a winter 
> bird.  Few females show white around the bill, but instead they often 
> have a white or pale ear patch.  Conventional wisdom holds that with 
> modern field guides, the identification of a female Lesser Scaup is no 
> longer a problem.  This reminds me of Mammy Yokum's frequent statement 
> "As any fool can plainly see. . . ." which was always answered by L'il 
> Abner, "Ah, sees."  Female Lesser Scaup have, in the past, caused much 
> confusion and consternation in the South Bay in summer, particularly 
> when they were accompanied by young ducklings.  Most of us are 
> unwilling to admit that WE were ever confused, and sometimes comment 
> on the failings of others.  Conventional wisdom in this situation has 
> been a fairly long and painful learning process.  Welcome, Jim.
>
> Bill
>
> At 05:43 PM 8/4/2007, you wrote:
>> After a good look at the well reported FRANKLIN'S GULL which was feeding
>> on the east side of West Pond, around noon today, I hiked out the levee
>> along the channel going NE from the radar tower. In the NE corner of
>> East Pond were about 20 female PINTAILS and about 50 NORTHERN 
>> SHOVELER'S.
>>
>> Help appreciated on the following. Walking back, about 100 yards from
>> the tower, I had a good look at a lone duck in the channel. It had the
>> shape of a Lesser Scaup. The head was bright brown. There was no white
>> around the bill or anywhere else on the head. No tuft was visible.
>> Feathers on the top of the head seemed to crest up slightly, giving off
>> golden highlights. The bill was solid glossy black. The eyes were bright
>> yellow. The body was also brown like the head, though a not so richly
>> colored, with some light spots. It showed white on the backs of the
>> wings as it flew across East Pond and out of sight over West Pond.
>>
>> -Jim Thomas
>>
>>
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>
>



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