I just got word yesterday that a reddish teal was seen on Thursday during a
waterfowl survey on Railroad Road (off Van Dyne Spoor) in the Northern
Montezuma Wildlife Management Area. From the photo, it seems clear that
this bird is a BLUE-WINGED x CINNAMON TEAL HYBRID, very likely the same
bird that was around on the wildlife drive all fall! Since we didn't hear
about it until now, no one was able to look for it over the weekend, but
anyone in the area should keep an eye out and post if it is found. The same
field marks as the bird in the fall make this not a pure Cinnamon: pale
face, pale flank mark, and small dark spots on the sides.
Duck numbers have been good at Railroad Road as well as out in the marshes
at Van Dyne Spoor (where birds are hard to see in the vegetation), the
flooded fields on the south side of Carncross Road, and in the river near
the east end of Carncross Road. At this bridge looking north on Sunday,
Livia and I had an interesting bird that was very likely a hybrid EURASIAN
x AMERICAN WIGEON. Overall it looked very much like an American Wigeon
male, but the green mask was very narrow, the cheek was markedly (though
not brightly) colored cinnamon, and the forehead was yellowish buff rather
than white. It lacked the buff coloration on the cheek and the grayish
tones on the back and sides that most individuals of this hybrid
combination I have seen display, so perhaps it is a backcross or just a
bizarre American, although I have never seen an American with that amount
of reddish on the face. Another bird to watch out for.
Finally, per Chuck Gibson, a YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD has been visiting a
feeder on Gravel Road near Montezuma sporadically over the last week or so,
arriving with a large and flighty mixed blackbird flock and not staying
long.
Jay
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Jay McGowan
Macaulay Library
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
jw...@cornell.edu
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