This morning before class, I read that there was a pair of blue-winged teal at the Centre Furnace duck ponds, a good find considering that it is almost December here in PA! So I decided that after work I would go and check these birds out. When I arrived, I saw the same birds that I did last Tuesday. Mallard, canada geese, american black ducks, american coot, northern shovelers, ring-necked ducks, and the belted kingfisher. I started scanning through the mess of ducks, and found the teal swimming with another species of duck. I'll admit, at first I was stumped. But after mulling it over for a minute, I concluded that this bird was a female american wigeon.
Blue-winged teal, mallards, american black duck, and american wigeon
mallards and american wigeon
mallards and american wigeon
I rather enjoy getting to see the wigeon. I love the white forehead, blue bill, green eye patch combination, in males that is. I kept hearing a whistle, which I heard Tuesday and could have sworn northern pintail, but couldn't find one in the flock then or this afternoon. I observed the ducks mingle for about twenty minutes while taking these horribly out-of-focus pictures. It was going to be dark soon, and I hadn't eaten anything yet, so I began walking back to the jeep. At the north end of the pond I heard the whistle one more time, and stopped dead in my tracks. I turned and looked into the crowd of ducks, one sticking out significantly. This bird was facing me, yet had his head twisted around preening, revealing a snowy white breast. When he turned his head around, I quickly reached for the camera. One of my all time favorite dabbling ducks seen in Pennsylvania, the northern pintail.
Drake northern pintail with mallards
Drake northern pintail with mallards
Drake northern pintail with mallards
I do not see nearly enough of these sleek, well groomed looking birds. The brilliantly blue streaked bill, chocolate brown head with a dramatically contrasting white breast and parallel neck stripes leading to a back of elegantly slate margined plumage and a long slender "pintail" always makes this bird an absolute joy to see. This bird made my quick trip to the duck pond a success.
Hey Jack! Nice finds on the pintail and wigeon - I visit the Duck Pond almost every day, but usually go in the early afternoon and haven't seen any pintail or wigeon there recently, so maybe they are just dropping in right before dark and then spending the rest of the daylight at some other spot. I noticed on your eBird report that you had 2 Blue-winged Teal there, I have only seen one teal.
ReplyDeleteHey Alex. I looked through the photos that I took last Thursday trying to find one that showed both teal, unfortunately coming up with nothing. Have you been back to check if they are both still there? Thanks for reading!
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