ML152328071

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

(Rare): cont. : photos: — found yesterday by Aaron Beerman, nice find! most Amazing bird ever yet for Crook Co.; today in same area, field just northwest of the CRWC entrance. This Tundra is the 5th ever USA-48 ebird record, (vs. 2 records for Taiga): 3 of those 5 records are now Oregon’s. 1st Central Oregon record. ******* I only ever saw the 2018-2019 Benton Co. Tundra Bean-goose distantly, so this is my first really good view of any bean-goose. The head shape of this bird reminds me like of a BA goldeneye: where the bill meets the face, suddenly the foreface doesn’t continue the line slope of the bill but instead juts upward with steep forehead. There is also another ~ peak behind eye, and sometimes the headtop appears flat between these two peaks, and sometimes it looks gently rounded upwards between them. The forward peak is more prominent, almost bulbous-like. This one’s bill is long, and the gape line where the top and the bottom bill meet has a little bit of a Snow Goose type grin and it also curves up convex. The orange on the bill does go all around bill but often appears as though it is only on the upper bill; the shape of the orange spreads out broader at base, so it isn’t just a uniformly thick ring ; ring much thinner on lower bill. The orange is farther away from face than bill’s midway. The gape curve is peaked prob closer to face, just, than bill’s midway. Face is darkest brown through eyeline extending through and back from eye: this is prominent. Often it also appears slightly darker above eyeline too and along back of head in strip like mohawk, giving face a subtle darker-capped look sometimes. Cindy noted this bird’s “striations on sides of neck” as also something to look for in telling Tundra from Taiga? I looked through ebird photos of both Tundra and Taiga, and so much variation in photos of both species (assuming all photos correctly ID’d) that everything I have read to note for ID, can happen on both species! However, overall today’s bird matches higher percentage of Tundra photos than of Taiga photos, esp in bulbous fore-forehead, and darker face/line through/~ capped look. Conjecture with Chuck that bird maybe ill: it sits a lot, and often feeds while sitting. However, it walks and flies just fine, so isn’t injured. May be, just is tired, after flying here across the Pacific Ocean! “I’d sit around sleepy, a lot, too!” after such voyaging. Chuck spoke to local exotic waterfowl breeder (of 2018 nene & smew), and she’s never heard of this species, so it isn’t hers.

Technical information

Model

iPhone 6 Plus

Lens

iPhone 6 Plus back camera 4.15mm f/2.2

ISO

50

Focal length

4.2 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/2.2

Shutter speed

1/30 sec

Dimensions

540 pixels x 504 pixels

Original file size

80.83 KB