Tufted Duck hybrid in Ontario

On 10 Jan 2013 Alan Wormington of Ontario sent me some photos of a possible Tufted Duck from Hillman Marsh (near Pt Pelee).  My initial impressions were a duck not right for Tufted Duck (TUDU) and suspected it was Lesser Scaup x TUDU hybrid.  However, it got me wanting to know more about first year male TUDUs.  We have about 5 dozen Tufted Ducks wintering in St. John's and they are often easy to view well.  Today, 12th January, I did look at some TUDUs in town. At Burtons Pond, 47 of the 60-ish TUDU known to be in town were confined to a small pool water.  It was like shooting fish in a barrel.  The ducks were covered with water droplets from the heavy drizzle/light rain at the time.  After looking a little closer at our TUDUs I was 100% convinced the Ontario bird was not a TUDU and was probably a hybrid TUDUx Lesser Scaup.

 

Two shots of the Ontario probable Lesser Scaup x Tufted Duck hybrid. The peaked head with a blunt crest lacking isolated strands of a new crest typically present on a Tufted Duck with an under developed crest is all evidence against pure TUDU. The brown wash on the flanks means it is not in full breeding plumage but on this bird not sure if it is a sub adult or adult. The solid blackish back means it has to be related to a TUDU or on the very outside chance Ring-necked Duck (not really a candidate because of crest and bill markings). 

 

 

The above four photos are male TUDUs that are aged as 1st winters based on rudimentary crest and dirty white flanks.  Note subdued crests are limited to short loose strands with no prominent bump. Also note typical flat crowns. In the last photo the subadult is surrounded by three typical adult males with white flanks and with full crests that blown partially or completely from view.

A male Lesser Scaup (presumed adult) showing peak at rear of crown.  In foreground a 1st winter male TUDU showing short wispy crest and the classic sperm whale forehead of TUDU.

A male Tufted Duck. Probably an adult based on long crest that is somewhat matted against back of neck.  The brown washed sides probably means it was late moulting from summer eclipse into adult winter/breeding plumage. Adult male TUDUs in full breeding plumage have blacker backs then adults males in eclipse plumage and subadults. 

A drake Tufted Duck dressed to the nines, albeit wet and probably hungry.  Note immaculate flanks, clean bill and long wispy crest.

Below is a female duck that had been with the Tufted Ducks all fall.  Others have noticed the unusual amount of white around the base of the bill and have already suggested a hybrid scaupxTUDU.  I have not really given this bird a good look until today thinking it was probably just a young female or  TUDU. It is late for immature TUDUs to be showing so much white at the base of the bill and this bird shows more white than any other TUDU I've seen.  The bird deserves more study but I am thinking the bold white around bill and apparently larger bill is leaning in favour of this being a scaupx TUDU hybrid.  The white ring around bill, I don't think it is significant enough to consider involvement with a Ring-necked Duck. I am betting female Lesser Scaup x TUDU at the moment but it is a weak bet.   Even the rear of he head looks too peak to be a pure Tufted Duck. 

The possible hybrid TUDU is at the back. In front is the often observed leucistic female TUDU and a female (probable 1st winter) with hardly the beginnings of a crest.

Profile of a potential scaup x TUDU hybrid.  Note high rear crown.  White around bill not so obvious from the side.

 

Strongly peaked crown and bold white ring around bill is just a little off the norm for female TUDU.  The female TUDU in background with weak crest might be a subadult.  

 

 

The possible hybrid duck  is in the upper left of photo with standard female TUDUs on right half of the frame.  Besides the obvious lack of white feathering around the base of the bill and only a vaguely pale zone inside black bill tip, all the birds have a similar shape.  The bill and head on the possible hybrid appear larger then the other ducks.

For those intimately familiar with TUDU there is something just a little off about this bird.

 

 

 



Cape Spear Lapland Longspur

Got out to Cape Spear before sunrise hoping to scope over a large flock of eiders recently reported there.  On the path from the parking lot to the point in the pre-sunrise light I was surprised to see a sparrow-like bird fly toward me and land in the grass near my feet.  It was a Lapland Longspur.  I remembered that a few weeks ago Alvan Buckley reported a very tame longspur from Cape Spear.  It had to be the same bird but had somehow gone undetected since then.  Longspurs are on the rare side in winter on the Avalon Peninsula and then usually at places like Cape Race or Point Lance beach.  The bird fed at close range like a mouse in the grass. It seemed nearly fearless of me.  I had no choice but to shoot it - with my camera even though the sun wasn't even up and we were in the shadow of a hill.  Once again it was ISO3200 to the rescue. The Canon EOS1D MarkIV is a great camera in many ways but one of the most useful attributes is usable high ISOs in desperate situations. The pictures aren't calendar quality but good enough record shots. 

 

The Lapland Longspur fed on grass seeds beside the paved path at Cape Spear completely ignoring me.

 

Out at the Cape there were no pans of eiders sitting on the water. Saw just three Common Eider fly by.  Large swells were rolling in from the northeast and crashing spectacularly on the rocks in the pink light of the sunrise..  Felt like there should have been a professional there taking scenics but I was the only person there.  Not much you can do with a 300 mm lense and waves.   Lots of gulls were feeding in the surf including a Lesser Black-backed Gull.

 

 

Monster swells caved in the tip of Cape Spear. No wonder there were no Purple Sandpipers in sight.

 



 

 

In January Life is a Pond

Trying to squeeze out all the birding time around the 8 hour working day, which takes up 89% of the daylight period according to my calculation at this time of year, I went to ponds before work and during lunch break for maximum bird impact.  Before work went to Bowring Park for potential raptors chasing the pigeons and to check on the Pink-footed Goose.  The duck pond was 89% frozen after the last 48 hours of extra cold temperatures.  The masses of ducks were still at lowest energy output mode when I arrived just after the so called sunrise.  The sleeping Pink-footed Goose was easy to pick out among the Blacks, Mallards & Pintails.  It was keeping its nostrils buried in the feathers of it back. I imagine less air needs to be warmed by your body if the air you get comes from a warm air pocket buried in the feathers of your back. Those geese and ducks know what they are doing when they sleep with their faces buried in their backs. 

The Pink-footed Goose was still sleeping at sunrise along with most of the several hundred ducks at Bowring Park, St. John's. 

 

Northern Pintails and other ducks at the Bowring Park duck pond sleeping off the the cold early morning before the duck lovers arrive with bags of good food. 

At lunch break  I sacrificed valuble free time to drive cross town for a view of Quidi Vidi Lake.  There were lots of gulls on the ice and bathing in the open pools of water off the Virginia River mouth. Without a scope only the closer gulls were scanned.  Still no SBGU.  Arrived at the west end of the lake just as an otter slithered up on to the ice with a big trout in its jaws.  I noticed Lancy Cheng already there with his binoculars pointed toward the otter.  I got out with my camera for a few otter photos.

The otter gets out of the water with its lunch.  Perhaps it is already thinking about dessert looking over at four Black-headed Gulls. 

Otters at Quidi Vidi Lake pretty well always start at the tail when consuming a brown trout.  It takes about the same time for an otter to eat a whole trout as is does a hungry human.  The otter eats it all.  A crow hoping for left overs got nothing.

This trout would have been a good meal for a human.  Otters eat a fish like a pepperoni stick starting at tail and keep going until they crush the bones of the head into swallowable pieces.. 

The ducks at Quidi Vidi Lake get out of the water when an otter is sighted.  Last winter an otter was observed dragging a frantically flapping Black Duck under the ice never to be seen again.  This otter which is presumably the same animal as last winter, has a method for checking out the possibility of duck on the menu.   It dives under the ice and comes up within lunging range of the ducks on the shore.  Several time I've seen this happen and was ready with the camera but each time it pulled back under the ice.  It was probably only sizing up the situation for a later date. The ducks are eerily only partially aware that the otter is watching them from just a few meters away.

Slyly the otter pokes its head up from under the edge of the ice to look at the ducks on the shore only a couple of meters away. 

The otter gets lazy and swims about in the open water  diving and coming up eating what I think are sticklebacks - lots of chewing but nothing visible.  Before I go back to work I start to naked-eye the ducks on the shore and see a GADWALL just sitting there as if it had been there the whole time.  Gadwall is loosing its rarity status in Newfoundland but seeing one in winter is still an event.  An otter to watch and a bonus bird for the winter list has to rank as a good lunch break..

A little ragged around the edges this newly arrived female Gadwall at the well watched Quidi Vidi Lake will be enjoyed by the St. John's birding community.  There are one or two Gadwall found on the Avalon Peninsula in recent winters.  This is one of the very few females.



The Last Weekend of Christmas Holidays

It was an excellent 16 day Christmas Holiday. Three Christmas Bird Counts and bird action so good in St. John's there was no need to leave town.  The last weekend of the holiday was a mop up things I planned to do but hadn't got around to it.  Gull photography was one area that got badly neglected due to the warblers and other rare birds to look for.  When Quidi Vidi Lake froze over Saturday afternoon I planned to for a full day of gulls on Sunday. But the -12C and cold wind kept gulls numbers at a minimum resulting in poor gull watching.  Vast numbers of Iceland Gulls crammed into St. John's harbour - probably  3000+.  However, the bright sunlight made photo conditions poor. Many lined up on Pier 17 posing for photos but being strongly back lit there was not much you could do unless you filled the frame with their head to block out the sun.

A variety of Iceland Gull heads from Pier 17 on 6 January 2013.

This is one of three Common Gulls using the Pier 17 sewer outflow.  Two have bills coloured like this one and the other has a more yellow bill with a dusky ring.  This bird has a band on left leg and is suspected of being a bird banded here last winter.

 

With so much birding concentrated on the lower Waterford River valley, Quidi Vidi Road and Roche Street looking for the warblers there, I wanted to check out other areas that could hold warblers. On Saturday covered the Waterford Valley up to Bowring Park. It was a good morning for birding but no warblers were found. A couple of Brown Creepers in Bowring Park was my only year bird.  Everyone and their dog  (literally) was looking at the very obliging Pink-footed Goose pulling up grass grass out of the snow on the banks of the duck pond.

Bowring Park is one of the easiest places around St. John's to see the uncommon Brown Creeper.

 



Even Kelly's Brook was being neglected in the face of the warbler action in other parts of St. John's.  I gave it a good going over on Sunday and was sure there were no warblers there. The usual Belted Kingfisher and just a handful of teal but only one drake Common Teal were present.

The teal at Kelly's Brook are among the tamest in St. John's offering close photo opportunities if you don't mind the deep shade under the willows.

Monday is going to be a tough come down after 16 days of good birding....

Five Species of Warbler on 4 Jan 2013

Five species of warbler is a good day in November, let alone December, in Newfoundland.  Five species in a day in January is a first.  While the whereabouts of all five species were previously known, connecting with them all in the same day is not a simple feat.

Orange-crowned Warbler is one of the hardiest warblers. It is regularly recorded on CBCs on the Avalon.  This is the first one I remember that has made use of a feeder. Today it was seen by several observers feeding on a suet block on Quidi Vidi Road. 

 

This Townsend's Warbler has been seen and photographed by more people than any other warbler in Newfoundland history!!  It continues to eek out and existence in the small spruce trees on the lower most Waterford River. It looks a little more feeble each day.  It is easily overlooked as it feeds quietly in the centre of the thick trees.  Not everyone sees it on every visit.

 

Pine Warblers are rare in Newfoundland with maybe 1-3 being a fall average.  They are hardy warblers willing to eat suet and can survive the Newfoundland winter. We are waiting for this one on the lower Waterford River to discover the delicious suet put out for it and any other hungry warblers.

 

This Yellow-rumped Warbler was keeping close company with the Pine Warbler on the lower Waterford River today.  Hopefully they will discover the suet bag in time for the cold temperatures forecasted this weekend. 

The Yellow-breasted Chat is a regular fall vagrant and without fail there are late ones.  This particular bird on Roche Street, first found in Alvan Buckley's backyard, is  a difficult bird to glimpse.  It was my first sighting in six or seven visits.  It was like threading the eye of the needle to get a clear photo looking through a chain link fence and a shrub at the bird half way across the property.

Ok.  We have these warblers nailed down. Do you think these are the only warblers in town? Not likely. Time to find some of the others before the cold weather gets them.  On Saturday I will be searching the Waterford Valley up river from the Townsend's to Bowring Park and St. Mary's school area.  I feel confident there are others to find.





Look Who Dropped into Bowring Park

It was  snowy dawn when I parked at Bowring Park, St. John's on 3 January. My plan was to drink a Tims on a park bench and wait for hawks to come in and harass the pigeons. Also wanted to check the pond edges for possible warblers seeing how many warblers are still kicking around town.  Before I reached the first park bench I noticed a goose sleeping with the mass of ducks not yet awake in the shallow water.  It was the missing PINK-FOOTED GOOSE from the Goulds.  We had all but given up hope on this bird after last being seen a couple of weeks or so in the Goulds farm fields.  Well here it was right under our noses in the middle of St. John's.  Didn't expect such a wary bird to have braved the city noises, people and dogs but here it was.

The Pink-footed Goose as is as how I first saw it at dawn on the shores of the Bowring Park duck pond in St. John's.

Standing in a sea of Black Ducks and park Mallards the goose seemed well adopted by the local waterfowl.  

The alarms went out to the birding circle.  Eventually the ducks and goose woke up.  People bringing bags of bird seed kept the mass of ducks happy. The goose was not interested in seed but was poking around in the shallow snow looking for bits of green grass.  It is going to have to change the diet to survive the winter.  According to a city worker the goose arrived on 28 December.  It was skittish at first he said.  Now it is very tame.

 

The Pink-footed Goose ignored offers of bird seed that drove the park ducks into feeding frenzies and tried grazing on what little green grass it could find in the thin layer of powder snow.

 

 

 

The First Day of birding 2013

New Years tradition for me is to be the first birder to see the sun in North America at Cape Spear  There is no competition, I've yet to see another birder out there at dawn on January 1st.

 

After a brief seawatch consisting of very ordinary species, I headed back into St. John's and the lower Waterford River to try for better pictures of the Townsend's Warbler (16th for Newfoundland) that has settled into a winter feeding territory.  This was the first sort of clear sky since the bird was discovered a week ago. 

 

There were several other birders pacing up and down the trail when I got there.  There had been no sightings yet in 2013.  When Jared Clarke and I finally located it, most of the birders had already left.  Numerous joggers on the trail stopped and asked us what we were looking at and we were able to point out the bird to some of them.  Good photographs were challenging as the bird hunted near the core of small but dense spruce trees.

 

                               

The Townsend's Warbler rarely came out to the ends of spruce branches but usually fed within the dense branches near the trunk. 

 

By late morning  there was word of a 'greenish warbler' in east St. John's found by Lisa de Loen  It turned out to be a Pine Warbler,  a dull immature but still a welcome sight. 

 

 The immature Pine Warbler on Quidi Vidi Road.