Ahh, this explains the teal: http://greennature.com/gallery/duck-pictures/teal.jpg Normally, when the wing is folded the outer secondaries are hidden beneath the inners, so in the field you see the iridescent green speculum. This bird may have an injury or just some misplaced feathers, revealing the outer secondaries and revealing a wing pattern that isn't often seen on foraging Green-winged Teals.
Christian Nunes From: pajaro...@hotmail.com To: cobirds@googlegroups.com Subject: [cobirds] Boulder County morning tid-bits 11/20/2011 Date: Sun, 20 Nov 2011 13:17:55 -0500 Hello birders, I was mostly able to track down a few interesting birds reported by other birders this morning. I started at Baseline Reservoir, where there was not much of note. At Valmont, there was one COMMON LOON. Waneka Lake was devoid of birds. I heard an enticing Spotted/Canyon Towhee-like "see-eeet" call (the high pitched one) near the houses by the west entrance to Greenley, but I never saw the bird. Harris's Sparrows sound similar, too. Something for Ted to work on, maybe. Panama Res #2 was empty except for RING-BILLED GULLS. On my way to Dodd Reservoir, I got a call from Peter Gent who reported a Greater White-fronted Goose at Baseline. I quickly stopped at Dodd, where there were large numbers of CACKLING GEESE, a smattering of CANADA GEESE, and 7 SNOW GEESE (1 ad Blue, 4 ad White, 2 immature White). Over at Boulder Reservoir, I couldn't find the Pacific Loon that was reported by Nick Komar yesterday. Boulder Reservoir was practically devoid of birds. It was pathetic. I returned to Baseline where I easily found the immature GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE which I had either missed earlier, or which had arrived after I departed. Also present was the odd Teal that Nick Komar reported yesterday. The bird is the size and shape of a Green-winged Teal, and the abnormal speculum pattern is only visible on the left side. The odd wing pattern is very Mallard-like. There really is nothing else to suggest that it's a hybrid with a Mallard, and given the drastic size different between those two species, I doubt that's what's going on. I think the most likely explanation is that it's an abnormal individual of a common species. It really stands out and is worth further study by anyone interesting in odd ducks. Several other species of teal show this speculum pattern including Falcated, Common and Baikal Teal, and Gargany. When the light is better this afternoon I'll go take another look. Christian NunesBoulder, copajaro...@hotmail.com http://www.flickr.com/photos/christian_nunes/ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.