[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Pond update, spring arrivals





I hit a couple of the ponds around the area over the weekend.  I was hoping to
dig up some Pectoral SP's as they arrived int he area on the 28th of March last
year.  No luck yet.  The NCSU Dairy Pond had several species of ducks including
N. Shoveler, GW Teal, Bufflehead, Ruddy, Mallard, and Scaup Sp.  Once again, the
scaup were problamatic.  Nice clean white sides (pointing toward greater), green
sheen to the heads, and a fairly rounded top of the head.  However, as I have
noted of late, scaup look rather different when they are wet (i.e feeding) than
dry.  Once these little guys dried out they had a nice little peak behind the
center of the head's topline.  Once again I had to resort to some better
fieldmarks, namely the size of the black nail on the bill and the length of the
white wingstripe.  Both were consistent with lesser scaup.  Interestingly the
heads showed a green gloss when wet, but a purple gloss when dry (angle of
sunlight was consistent).  Anyway the only shorebirds I
----------------------------------------------------------------
The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which
it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material.  Any
review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action
in reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other than the
intended recipient is prohibited.   If you received this in error, please
contact the sender and delete the material from any computer.