Yes - that's the front view to which I referred. If I'd only seen that, I'd
have said Lesser and been done with it. The others though...

You're the second person to mention the "H" word. One suggested I declare it
a new species, the Pierce Scaup, but I don't feel like doing the paperwork.
Otherwise the polls are running heavily in favor of Greater, but I agree the
bird seems confused.

Glad I went back for a photo - this is interesting.

fdp

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Fred Pierce (DNRC)- avialantic.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Maryland Birds & Birding [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
> Behalf Of Phil Davis
> Sent: Sunday, January 13, 2008 2:20 PM
> To: 
> Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] Centennial Scaup reducks
>
>
> Hi Fred:
>
> One thing I think I can say with a high degree of certainty ... it's
> not a Greater. Check out photo Scaup/scaup011308 018.jpg where it is
> looking directly at you. The nail on the bill is extremely narrow. A
> Greater would have a very notable much wider nail.
>
> Now, note that I did not say that it was a Lesser ... just that it's
> not a (pure) Greater ...
>
> Time to consider the dreaded "H" word ... ???
>
> Phil
>
>
> At 11:08 01/13/2008, Fred Pierce wrote:
> >Having received another email voting for Greater Scaup, I decided to
> >postpone breakfast and go photograph the beast. It was still
> moored near the
> >pavilion. Unfortunately the photos aren't too sharp, no doubt due to
> >condensation - I was to hungry to worry about it:
> >
> >http://www.avialantic.com/nature/bird_photos/scaup
> >
> >I'm flip-flopping back to favoring Greater, but still not sure. All the
> >Lessers I've seen have had the head crease quite pronounced
> whereas this one
> >only shows it sometimes. It was actively diving though, which
> Sibley shows
> >tends to flatten the head. The front view seems more like a
> Lesser to me. I
> >dunno.
> >
> >I included the link that Phil sent me which shows the two together. Would
> >that they were always so cooperative.
> >
> >As an aside, I think feedback on ID's should be posted to the
> group, since
> >we all tend to learn from these discussions, don't we? Although
> I'm pretty
> >casual in my birding, I do try to be conscientious in my postings, since
> >people use the info for various tabulations etc. and don't mind
> at all being
> >questioned.
> >
> >Anyway, doesn't the greater/lesser stuff do damage to the Lessor's
> >self-esteem? Especially if it's referred to as "just a Lesser." I think a
> >less demeaning appellation is in order.
>
> ==================================
> Phil Davis      Davidsonville, Maryland     USA
>                  mailto:[log in to unmask]
> ==================================
>
>