Evelyn,

The dark duck you photographed apparently gets around!  I see it with
mallards often at Roaches Run in Arlington.  It is some combination of
mallard and domestic fowl.

Jay Keller

----- Original Message -----
From: "Evelyn Ralston" <>
To: <>
Sent: Sunday, November 19, 2006 4:36 PM
Subject: [MDOSPREY] Hains Point 11/19; dark duck


> My friend Jennifer Kawar and I were at Hains Point DC, today 10-11:30
> am. The Brant was on the grass beyond the sculpture, together with
> several gulls.
>
> A number of ducks and gulls came to the edge of the water, on the
> Washington channel, to be fed by a woman and her young daughter. The
> ducks were Mallards, males and females, except (?) for one very dark
> duck, with a white patch on the breast, which we could not identify.
> A melanistic Mallard? I have posted a photo of the Brant and photos
> of this duck at http://www.pbase.com/erforthebirds
> (click on the brant thumbnail to open the gallery). I look forward to
> help with its identification.
>
> In the high grasses and small trees between the restrooms and the
> golf course there were numerous birds including house finches, a
> junco, a fox sparrow, a mockingbird, a red-bellied woodpecker. A bald
> eagle stopped briefly on one of the large trees.
>
>
> Evelyn Ralston
> Bethesda, Md
>