I did of course see some
Pine Grosbeaks today and also took some pretty cool photos (if I say so myself)
but will wait to publish these such that your lust for the Piney has had a chance
to return.
Instead I will treat you with pictures of a dodgy duck. In November 2015, the very competent Anne
Kari Norland discovered a Mallard x Wigeon hybrid which stayed the winter and was
also lucky enough to get itself blinged. It did not return subsequently until
Anne Kari again discovered it a couple of weeks ago. In 2015 it was aged as a
1cy bird (this can be seen by comparing the tertial feathers from then and now
– they were much shorter in 2015) so is now in its fifth calendar year.
I find hybrids very
interesting and with this bird there has been a change in its head pattern with
it now having a vertical black line in the yellow cheeks which is a feature that
many dabbling duck hybrids have and which reminds one of Baikal Teal (indeed
over the years many hybrids have been mistakenly identified as Baikal Teal…)
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Mallard x Wigeon hybrid. This bird was ringed as 1cy in December 2015 so is now in its 5th year |
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those vertical black stripes in the cheeks are reminiscent of Baikal Teal |
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a comparison of the head pattern in 2015 vs 2019 |
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picture taken with flash (it was gloomy today) |
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it was dark today - Goosander and Mallards |
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female Teal |