ML618187507

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

***Mega; first state record. Spotted in small farm pond along West Side Road (Coordinates: 41.173770,-71.597153). The bird resided in the same farm pond for the remainder of the day. Skittish, but not afraid to dabble in the pond and sift through some cow manure. Every encounter with Mallards ended in retreat. Dabbling duck with lightly streaked head and buffy, unstreaked throat. Bill was bright yellow with a bold black spot on gape. The body was lighter than American Black Duck, but darker than female Mallard. The flank feathers were immaculately rounded creating a scaled appearance. Side feathers were lightly fringed then marked with a thick brown border where within that border triangular formed the interior of the flank feathers. Flight shots show the diagnostic thin white tips to the secondaries and the lack of white tips to the secondary coverts. Also from the flight photos, a uniform dark brown upper side to tail feathers all roughly the same length and lacking any up-curved feathers that might be present in hybrids. Tentative Texas subspecies due to darker hue? We ruled out options such as American Black Duck X Mallard hybrid, pure American Black Duck, pure Mallard, and other Anas sp. primarily by the white tips to the secondaries, lack of white tips on the secondary coverts, and bold black spot on gape. The unclipped hallux, flight feathers, and lack of bands are points towards a wild origin. Thanks to the experts who helped rule out these possibilities! Tips for chasing: Referencing this and the report from the following day, this location is not the only farm where this bird spends its day. We checked many of the publicly visible ponds for this duck when it wasn't being seen at this location and concluded that it is alternatively using an inaccessible farm pond just to the north. Late afternoon visits to this pond have yielded the best success so far.

Technical information

Model

NIKON D500

ISO

360

Focal length

480 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/6.3

Shutter speed

1/800 sec

Dimensions

2325 pixels x 1550 pixels

Original file size

3.55 MB