Unknown migratory duck on the Ottawa river


Posted by JSz on Mon Nov 24, 2003 9:19 am

All times are UTC-05:00

Reply to topic  
 First unread post  | 8 posts | 
Image
I found four pairs of these ducks, in the middle of hundreds of Canadian geese, in a park along the Ottawa river. I have been unable to identify them with my "Birds of Ontario" book. I am wondering if they are juveniles? The second of the pair had a white band just before its bill. I had to use (-2/3) Exp comp, to not blow out the band.

Unfortunately they were quite skittish, and I had to crop heavily.
Jonathan Sz.

Posted by:
JSz
Forum Contributor
Location: Ottawa, Ontario
Posts: 26
Joined: 2 Sep 2003

   

by Bill Whala on Mon Nov 24, 2003 9:44 am
User avatar
Bill Whala
Forum Contributor
Posts: 5979
Joined: 21 Aug 2003
Location: Littleton, Colorado
Looks to me like a juvenile scaup drake. I can't tell if it is lesser or greater. Nice shot of him.
Bill Whala

"Aves of similar plumage tend to converge with one another"
 

by E.J. Peiker on Mon Nov 24, 2003 9:57 am
User avatar
E.J. Peiker
Senior Technical Editor
Posts: 86760
Joined: 16 Aug 2003
Location: Arizona
Member #:00002
Juvenile Greater Scaup in all likelihood
 

by Alan Murphy on Mon Nov 24, 2003 9:59 am
User avatar
Alan Murphy
Lifetime Member
Posts: 27330
Joined: 20 Aug 2003
Location: Houston, Texas
Member #:00014
Nice photo. I would crop a quarter off the bottom.
Alan Murphy
NSN 0014
www.alanmurphyphotography.com
 

by Greg Downing on Mon Nov 24, 2003 10:09 am
User avatar
Greg Downing
Publisher
Posts: 19318
Joined: 16 Aug 2003
Location: Maryland
Member #:00001
Looks like a juv scaup to me. It's a nice capture though with the bird this size in the frame it might work better as a more unusual composition with the bird well off center. A vertical with the bird in the upper left, or even a horizontal that way would work. Cropping even tighter might be good too. The bird is well positioned in terms of head angle etc. Overall a nice catch!
Greg Downing
Publisher, NatureScapes.Net
[url=http://www.gdphotography.com/]Visit my website for images, workshops and newsletters![/url]
 

by mhp767 on Mon Nov 24, 2003 3:57 pm
mhp767
Forum Contributor
Posts: 503
Joined: 24 Aug 2003
I'll go with juvy Lesser Scaup, though it's a tough call. Nice shot.
Matt
 

by LHays on Mon Nov 24, 2003 10:09 pm
User avatar
LHays
Lifetime Member
Posts: 12363
Joined: 17 Aug 2003
Location: Northern Kentucky
Member #:00040
I think you did pretty well with this one....and some great suggestions have been made. Sometimes if you can hang around long enough, they will make their way a little closer. You're doing pretty good....stay with it.
Lana Hays
NSN 0040
[url]http://www.lanahays.com/[/url]
 

by Ron Ridout on Tue Nov 25, 2003 8:16 am
User avatar
Ron Ridout
Forum Contributor
Posts: 140
Joined: 11 Nov 2003
Location: St Williams, ON Canada
Jonathan

Nice shot.

As others have already pointed out, your bird is indeed a scaup.

Identification of the two species can be somewhat tricky, particularly for females, young males or males im eclipse plumage. Shape of the head is probably the best clue with distant birds. Lesser Scaup have a steeper forehead with a peaked crown while Greaters have a more sloping forehead and flat or rounded crown. That said, alert Greaters often raise the feathers on their crown giving them a more "peaked crown" appearance. This bird seems somewhat aware of your presence but the head shape still points to Lesser. This conclusion is further fortified by the heavier (or coarser) vermiculation of the back feathers. Greater Scaup have a finer vermiculation than this bird displays.

As to age, it appears to be an adult male emerging from eclipse plumage which lasts from July through mid-November.

My advice regarding field guides would be to purchase the Sibley Guide to Birds and shelve the Birds of Ontario.

My two cents worth.

Ron
Ron Ridout
Bird Studies Canada
Author - [i]A Birding Guide to the Long Point Area[/i]
http://www.bsc-eoc.org
 

Display posts from previous:  Sort by:  
8 posts | 

Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group