ML25679351

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Female found and identified by Roger Schoedl just prior to my arrival. One on October 20, 1996, at Huntington Lake is the only record for the park. There are very, very few documented records of this species in Orange County away from the few coastal locations where it occurs in small numbers. This scaup was identified as this species based largely on head and bill shape. The head shape was more rounded than a Lesser Scaup - this is especially evident when at rest or sleeping (both show round head when actively diving). The photo of this bird at sleep shows a gentle angle of transition to nape, while Lesser shows a point dividing the angle of crown and nape. The photo showing the bird straight-on shows the larger, more spatulate shaped bill of a Greater Scaupe with a rounded black nail (not the narrow tooth-like nail of Lesser Scaup), and the overall larger head of Greater (chubby cheeks) vs. the narrower, taller head of Lesser Scaup.

Technical information

Model

Canon PowerShot SX50 HS

ISO

80

Focal length

215 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/6.5

Shutter speed

1/320 sec

Dimensions

2816 pixels x 2112 pixels

Original file size

4.31 MB