Yesterday at the Lincoln City sewage ponds I saw an oddly plumaged duck, which
I was unable to identify. The difficulty was due in part to the fact I had
binoculars, but no scope, and in part to the fact the duck was very
nondescript. It was basically brown, with few descriptive marks. Also, it was
by itself, the closest other ducks being a hundred or more feet away.
The most noticeable feature was a pale chest, brownish-white in color,
contrasting with the rest of the plumage. It was particularly obvious when the
bird turned to face me. The crown was a bit browner than the rest of the head,
but the blending was subtle, and there was no other pattern on the face. The
tertials were slightly margined with white. The bill was rather small and
appeared entirely black. Otherwise there isn't much I could say about the
plumage. Because of its isolation from the other ducks, it was hard to judge
size, but I thought it appeared to be a bit bigger than the Green-winged Teal,
which were present, and smaller than the Shovelers or Mallards.
After I had l looked at it for a while, it flew from the north pond to the
south pond. I did not get a real good look at the wing pattern, but it did not
have a green speculum as the Green-winged Teal, and appeared to have more
pattern in the wing. I was unable to relocate it in the second pond.
Perhaps it was some kind of teal, but the lack of head pattern was not
consistent with any of them, and I was left to wonder what kind of duck it was.
If anyone else looks for it, the most outstanding plumage feature, which would
help locate it, would be the pale chest.
Darrel
