[obol] Fwd: 4/30/13 - Union County : Wilson's Phalaropes, GC Sparrows, & hybrid Teal.
- From: AVITOURS@xxxxxxx
- To: obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 1 May 2013 14:11:51 -0400 (EDT)
Birders -
Yesterday after school and work (4/30, 6 pm), Isaak Carson and I drove
through Ladd Marsh WMA. We relocated Kent Coe's Oxen Springs GOLDEN-CROWNED
SPARROWS right where they have been hanging out lately, completing my Union
County Zono Slam for the year. Thanks Kent (for the White-throated too)! We
then drove Peach Road and found our FOS WILSON'S PHALAROPE (8) near the
east bank of the Old Schoolhouse Pond amongst both breeding Stilt species. In
this same area we also found, what we believe was a male GREEN-WINGED TEAL
X BLUE-WINGED TEAL hybrid. I took a couple of long distance photos and a
bit of video digiscoped with my phone, which can be viewed at the URLs below.
The sun was beginning to set, the lighting was to our backs and
illuminated the pond nicely. When I first scoped this little group of Teal,
the odd
individual popped out of the crowd instantly. My heart nearly skipped a
beat as the thought of Baikal Teal raced through my mind momentarily. I
directed my attention on the lone Teal. After further investigation, it looked
mainly like a male Green-winged with the usually neatly patterned undertail
coverts, a rufous crown stripe and green stripe across face, except the
auriculars where tanish-white below the green area (instead of dark rufous),
it had no vertical or horizontal white bar on the sides, side were grayish,
the speculum seemed more obvious and was bordered by broader white bars
and there was a prominent white femoral tract (hip-patch). We watched the
bird for 10 minutes before the whole Teal raft flew off northeastward. When
we got home I searched for Hybrid Teal images and there is a nice
assortment of putative GW X BW Teal hybrid photos. Several of the photos were
reminiscent of the Ladd Marsh bird. We will never know for sure, but I
thought
quite possibly it was a hybrid that my have back-crossed with a 'pure'
Green-winged Teal, due to the overall similarity with 'pure' Green wings. The
photos are not rotated or edited but if you want to take a look here they
are:
http://i1130.photobucket.com/albums/m527/avitours/0430131905-00_zps3f1cbdfc.
jpg
http://s1130.photobucket.com/user/avitours/media/0430131902-01_zps010d0db2.m
p4.html
Good birding,
- Trent Bray
La Grande, OR
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