ML417266751

Age and sex

Adult Male - 3

Observation details

Flock of scaup, redhead, ruddy duck, milling around this morning. Not the expected ratio of lesser/greater scaup and high count on greater scaup. Great lighting early in the morning and proximity to the ducks made identification easier. When we arrived, the ducks were at rest, not actively diving. Each duck was examined individually on site and through photos of each. Traits that identified as greater scaup included overall size (comparable to redhead, which were also within the group, or smaller for lesser scaup), white sides vs cross-hatching for males, roundness in the back of the head, and thicker-necked appearance. The spread of the nailhead outside a slim rectangle, the "fat-faced" look of the cheeks for greater scaup, and the position of any peak on the head (forward for greater, hind for lesser) and position of the eye higher toward the crown on greater scaup were also considered. Because many of these traits can be variable we tried to look for multiple of these characteristics on each duck to support ID. After awhile, a fishing boat came near and the ducks flushed over towards Camp Columbus. In flight they showed white extending all the way out towards the wingtips into the primaries. Attaching photos which support some of these features.

Technical information

Model

COOLPIX P950

ISO

140

Focal length

428.4 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/6.5

Shutter speed

1/250 sec

Dimensions

3538 pixels x 2359 pixels

Original file size

1.08 MB