We birded at Chatfield on Sunday, Feb 15 for the GBBC. Among 30 Common Merganzers, 40 Redheads, 4 Hooded Merganzers, and 50 Mallards, we watched 10-12 Common Goldeneys for more than 30 minutes through the high power of the Questar. One bird had us pretty baffled.
We watched a Goldeneye with no white patch. It was an adult male with an almost vertical forehead and small, more pointed bill, looking exactly like a Barrow¹s Goldeneye. It had a much darker back than the Commons, with a strong black spur at the shoulder extending into the white breast. It was swimming with the Commons but had almost a Hooded appearance with the straight forehead and the thin bill. With the Hooded swimming nearby, however, the overall differences were obvious. Any ideas about an adult male Barrow¹s without a white patch? Could this be a juvenile just not quite in full adult plumage? JoAnn Hackos joann.hac...@comtech-serv.com --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
