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| Ring-necked Duck and Greater Scaup, Winsor Dam at Quabbin Park, Jan 23, 2012 |
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| Ring-necked Duck, Winsor Dam at Quabbin Park, Jan 23, 2012 |
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| Ring-necked Duck and Greater Scaup, Winsor Dam at Quabbin Park, Jan 23, 2012 |
After taking Wilson for a walk and before the rain hit today I made a brief stop at Winsor Dam to see if there was an activity out on the water. I immediately noticed two birds in fairly close which I originally ID'd as a pair of Ring-necked Ducks but upon closer examination and comments from others turned out to be a Ring-necked Duck and a Greater Scaup, which are both quite rare occurrences inland in Massachusetts in winter. I did not have my usual camera set up with me but did manage a few record shots through the scope using my iPhone (digiphone type shot). After a few shots I headed for phone to drop off Wilson and get my other camera. The only other birds of note here was a Bald Eagle adult in flight and a juvenile Bald Eagle sitting in the nest tree.
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| Ring-necked Duck and Greater Scaup Hanks Meadow at Quabbin Park, Jan 23, 2012 |
When I returned the birds had (of course) left. I decided to make a loop through Quabbin Park and see if they had moved to there. I had a first of season Common Loon at Goodnough Dike as I scanned the water. I then went to Hank's Meadow and walked down to the waters edge. Well out to the west was a group of five Black Ducks, a Common Merganser and the presumed same Ring-necked Duck and Greater Scaup. I took a few distant shots. Beyond this little activity the park was relatively quiet. The drizzle then started in earnest at this point so I headed back out to the car and headed home.
Hi Larry,
ReplyDeleteThe adult drake is clearly a Ring-Necked Duck, but the other bird is showing grey coming through on both the mantle and flanks. A male scaup species in moult.I would be tempted to say Lesser scaup, but It is hard to discern a true size comparison. Do you have any shots of the other bird with it's head in profile?
Hi Owen,
ReplyDeleteThe grey coloration on the mantle is actually frost and the flank coloration in life pointed more toward a Ring-necked. There was a demarcation line between the breast and flank of the bird. The bird did have me thinking scaup when I first saw it through bino's but with the scope it was a Ring-necked. When first seen relatively close in they both stayed tucked most of the time but did lift their heads a couple times but didn't get a photo of that. When seen later and more distantly they had their heads out and ID'd them both as Ring-necked. I will say the shape of the head did not appear as peaked as expected for Ring-necked but I have certainly seen shapes of heads of them out of the normal field guide type profile. Thanks for the comments...would love to have had a scaup species too. These are the only shots I have of the birds.
Larry
I'm not convinced these are the same birds. The flanks of the sleeping one looks significantly browner than the last shot. Suppose the incoming back feathers rule out a female Ring-neck, but I'm less convinced about that bird.
ReplyDeleteI'd lean Greater on the last photo.
Jason,
ReplyDeleteThe photo from the Hank's Meadow area unfortunately was quite distant and cropped quite a bit. I got good looks through the scope of the pair here and through the scope was certainly a female Ring-necked. The difference in appearance of the brown coloration I believe is due to lighting. The light was certainly better on the earlier photos and the bird was much closer. The weather had grown cloudier with drizzle by the time of the second photo. Looking at just the photos now I would have a tough time ID'ing the bird to specific species and would not be totally certain of exactly what it was beyond it being either a scaup species or a Ring-necked Duck. It is nice to get comments on any ID and I always welcome any other thoughts. Thanks for your comments.
Larry
Hi Larry,
ReplyDeleteI cannot see the grey on the upper parts of this bird being frost I am afraid.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/roninphotography/3167849654/
It is not unsual for scaup to show a darker breast, contrasting with lighter flanks.
Also, if you look at your fourth shot, the birds head shape is different to the ring necked. There is no obvious facial markings which you would expect for a juvenile or female RN duck, in particular no white blaze at the front of the head. Granted a first year male would not have this, but the bill, appears entirely pale grey-blue, with no hint of any white sub-terminal band (which is obvious on the male RND to the left). Again, this could be a very muted individual, but I do not think so. Combined together all of these features make it a scaup species. And thinking more about it, the size comparison and head shape in shot 4 would make me lean towards greater scaup.
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ReplyDeleteBelieve me the gray is indeed frost. The bird was perhaps 100-125 feet away and viewed through a spotting scope. I agree the link also shows a similiar pattern on a scaup but I can say without any question at all the gray is indeed frost. However the frost could easily have been the top color but with other grayish color under the frost...hmmmm. However when the bird did lift its head out the bill matched with Ring-necked. My other question with the first bird is an obvious lack of an obvious 'spur' but it is there.
ReplyDeleteThe forth shot does indeed lean me toward a scaup species when viewed on line only but the coloration is not true to life due to perhaps distance and certainly light. The actual photo does show more white around the eye and trailing off to the rear of the head. The light is very poor to pick out any bill color beyond steel gray in the photo. I would call the two birds in the photo as one male Ring-necked and a scaup species if judging the ID only on this one photo. The more I look at the photo the more I want to call it a scaup species and likely a Greater Scaup but my view at the time just didn't lean that way. Now I really wish I got more photos!
Again, thanks for the thoughts as it is always interesting to see other people's thoughts on ID of birds photographed in less than ideal conditions. This is what keeps it interesting.
Hi Larry,
ReplyDeleteFemale Ring necked Ducks do not show a spur. And those are grey feathers coming through on the flanks.(Frost would be unlikely to sit on the sides of a bird, as well as unlikely to survive flight between two sites, or survive in drizzle), and in all your shots it seems consistently bigger than the male RND.
If it were a first winter male Ring necked duck, I would expect to see a white subterminal band on that bill in shot four.
Hi Owen,
ReplyDeleteAccording to Sibleys a female Ring-necked can show a faint type side spur but I'm now not totally convinced that is what I saw. Again the more I look at the photos and the field marks I noted from memory fade I lean more and more toward a Greater Scaup. I agree the gray on the sides would not be frost and certainly would not survive a flight to a new area. I was just not thinking scaup after looking at a couple other field marks.
I still think shot four shows the most field marks for a scaup but I just keep dismissing it as being too distant and in bad light.
I thank you, Jason and a few others for your thoughts on this bird. It is always informative to get some other thoughts on a bird. In the end I now think a Greater Scaup is indeed the second bird which makes the sighting even more exciting in that both a Ring-necked Duck and a Greater Scaup are both quite unusual inland in Mass in January.
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