Great pictures! My next investment...Anyway, this was the goldeneye 
(clearly) that I saw the other day. I thought it was an immature male 
because of the faint white around the bill and the lack of yellow on the 
bill. Now I know not all females show yellow. But what about that faint 
white patch??  Not that I'm doubting, rather I'd like to learn here...

Kerry Stone
Takoma Park, MD
Montgomery County



> Here's a photo of the Goldeneye with the Bufflehead:
>
> http://www.astro.umd.edu/~dcr/xfer/IDs/gold_n_buff.jpg
>
> Two questions: 1) is it surprising that there is no discernible yellow on 
> the Goldeneye's bill? 2) is it possible to tell whether the Bufflehead is 
> a female and not a first-winter male?