ML547693111

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

This bird was visible from outside the fencing on the east side of the large pond with the aerators. Male. Yellowish bill with a black nail. Uniform colored face with a dark eyeline. Slight smudging on the crown but I did not see any green sheen. The rest of the bird was essentially uniform in color. The neck was slightly paler than the body and there was a sharp demarcation between the neck and darker chest. The tertials were solidly in the brown camp. The outer tail feathers were edged buff and the undertail coverts uniformly dark. There was no hint of any tail curl. I got a brief look at the speculum when the bird slightly stretched out its wing. The speculum was violet. I can't say for sure, but my impression was the white wings bars were not that wide, and one was narrower than the other, but I cannot be sure if it was the upper or lower bar. At one point I had concerns that the undertail coverts were too pale, and one of the many photos looked like there was a ghost neck ring, so I went back to the duck and watched it more. I got better looks at the undertail coverts as it swam away from me and then sat up on the side of the pond completely exposing the belly and extending it's neck as it was alertly watching me. At no time in the field did I see a ghost neck ring, so I think that was an artifact on that one photo. As the bird was out of the water, I studied the lower belly and thought it looked evenly-colored and concluded any perceived paleness in my moderate quality digiscoped photo was reflection in mid-day sun. I came away feeling pretty good about this bird, but of course, am open to feedback.

Technical information

Model

iPhone X

Lens

iPhone X back dual camera 4mm f/1.8

ISO

20

Focal length

4 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/1.8

Shutter speed

1/564 sec

Dimensions

573 pixels x 524 pixels

Original file size

110.24 KB