Thanks, everyone, who offered input. The ability to just CHANGE an entry in
ebird is an awesome feature. Beats deleting and entering again. THANKS
ebird Team!

I long considered Hooded Merg, but I felt the bill was not low on the head,
thin and small as pictured in my guides, altho HOME juvl bill is yellow,
clearly shown on my bird. The whitish neck and belly also puzzled me. I
did suspect that the white in the underwing 'elbow pit' might be a good
diagnostic. It all points to watching behaviors more. 'My' bird was diving
and diving showing that long, stiff tail; I'm not sure I have ever watched
that on a COME. Once IDed by plumage - which is usually pretty easy - I
move on. Tsk, tsk!

Ruth Stewart
E. Dorset



On Tue, Aug 20, 2019 at 12:24 PM lawlor <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Oops. You were writing to someone else.
>
> I though I made a typo on my ompompanoosuc list but to my delight I
> haven’t for once
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> > On Aug 20, 2019, at 11:50 AM, Donald Clark <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >
> > Looks like Hooded Merg. Wrong bill & head shape for Ruddy.
> >
> > Don Clark
> > Grafton
> >
> >> On Aug 19, 2019, at 10:04 PM, R Stewart <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >>
> >> *Need Help again* identifying a duck. Took some not so great digiscope
> >> pictures which tend to show more contrasting color than bino or scope
> view.
> >>
> >> Deming Pond, S. Village E. Dorset, Bennington, Vermont, US
> >> Aug 18, 2019 5:00 PM - 5:20 PM
> >> Protocol: Stationary
> >> Comments: At edge of pond with scope. Need help identifying duck
> >> 5 species
> >>
> >> Mallard 2 Note blue speculum
> >> Ruddy Duck 1 When I first saw this duck through binos, it was with
> 2
> >> larger ducks and was diving constantly. Of note was the stiff, long tail
> >> seen when bird dove. Plumage was brown with what appeared to be a
> whitish
> >> throat and belly. Five min later I was viewing it through my scope. Bird
> >> was grooming, preening, stretching and flapping wings. There seemed to
> be
> >> some white on wing primaries seen when preening. There was some
> prominent
> >> flash of white in the area of the 'wing pit' - 020 jpg. altho. the
> >> underside of the wing was dark.
> >> Double-crested Cormorant 2
> >> Purple Finch 1 seen at nearby feeder
> >> American Goldfinch 1
> >>
> >> View this checklist online at
> https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S59118193
> >>
> >> This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (
> https://ebird.org/home)
>