While I seem to have everyone's attention and am being contrary tonight ;-) �..
On Wednesday, when we were looking for the Red Phalarope at Lilypons, there were 2 ducks in the shorebird pond next to the river. I didn't look at them very closely (although, I did think one looked odd for a female Mallard, but hey, it's a Mallard) and I recorded them both as Mallards (MALL), as I saw white on the speculum of what I will call the female duck and I didn't think they were dark enough for American Black Ducks (ABDUs). I noticed later that evening everyone else that was there that day (and subsequent days) recorded them as ABDUs. So, I took a a better look at them today, since I couldn't figure out why I missed the call so badly. I am assuming they are the same ducks as Wednesday (looked like it to me). Both were sitting in the same pond, and indeed the "female" was showing white in a sitting position, so I took a photo (1st pix below, duck in front). I could only see blue on what I will call the male (assuming they were a breeding pair). I was thinking one of each--female MALL, male ABDU. However, later they flew, Bob got a couple of quick shots off, and both ducks showed white, although the "male" appears to just show white below the speculum and not above (rest of the photos).
So to the experts--do we have a MALL and a hybrid? Aberrant ABDUs? Two hybrids? Or what?
Apologies for the not great photos.
____________________
Marcia Balestri
Frederick, MD
<mebalestri...>
--
-- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Group 'Maryland & DC Birding'.
To view group guidelines or change email preferences, visit this group on the web at http://www.mdbirding.com
Posts can be sent to the group by sending an email to <mdbirding...>
|