[Beverlybaynes]

I did a little car birding this morning, looking for Bobolinks, unsuccessfully, in some grasslands in SE DeKalb County.

I checked out a pond that is a regular stop for me and found a mystery duck:

First seen while preening on a snag in the water, feet in the water, not perched.

The duck is uniformly a dull medium-darkish brown on its upperparts, although it's belly (to the tail) is bright white. It's slightly paler around the bill and front of the neck.
The body, while seen front on and preening, seemed bulky, but then did not seem bulky when seen swimming.

The back showed 2-3 white scapular (?) edges; otherwise solidly brown. The white belly is not visible while swimming.

The swimming profile was like a small loon/diver, although the size is closer to a merganser/goosander. The head is not large, is somewhat flattened on top, and has no crest or trailing feathers. The eye was dark and MAYBE had a dark-reddish cast to it.

The bill was fairly narrow -- although it didn't seem as narrow as a merg -- and yellowish. The upper bill darkened toward the tip, although there was no definite color line. The lower bill was yellowish, and the yellow went closer to the darker tip.

When it flew, it paddle/walked on take-off, and white patches were visible on its underwings.

It is a diver, and the tail seen while driving seemed short, fanned and somewhat stiff.

It's size is a judgment call: it was never close enuogh to the Mallard and Wood Duck females for a good comparison, but I'm GUESSING 14-16 inches.

It's saying merganser/goosander to me, but WHAT KIND? It certainly didn't look like any of the merg juvies in my National Geographic (haven't checked the Sibley yet).

The location is northeastern Indiana, rolling farmland, a good natural pond with cattails, snags, swamp willow, reeds, bullfrogs, lots of turtles, wood duck babies galore, dragonflies, etc. A house sits on a bluff behind and overlooking it, and there's a woods close by on the other side. It runs close to the road, so viewing there is excellent.

I've seen Great Blue and Green Herons there in the past, BW Teal, Mallard, Wood Ducks, and Sora.

Any ideas on what I saw today? Thanks in advance!

[Michael Frankis]

Best fit I can think of is Hooded Merganser. The crest need not be obvious if it is flattened down.

I also wouldn't want to rule out Goldeneye, though the 3 scapular stripes doesn't fit for that (does for Hooded Merg), nor does the bill (less narrow, and usually black with just a yellow tip, on Goldeneye juv)

Michael

[Beverlybaynes]

Thanks, Michael! I still haven't looked in my Sibley, but will check it out promptly.

Knew it had to be a merg, but was just completely stumped as to which one.

I've also emailed two local birding gods -- and will be interested in what they have to say.

[Beverlybaynes]

But..... I must say that the head (which I saw clearly from all sides) gave NO indication of a crest/hood. The entire head was smooth.

[Charles Harper]

Still, Bev, Hooded Merg is the only meerganser you're likely to see on a pond-- the other two prefer much larger bodies of water. Hood can flatten down pretty completely-- you said head looked 'flattened'. Hey, how come you're not digiscoping these rarities?

[paulh]

Here's a female Hooded Merganser - not the best angle but it might help.

[Beverlybaynes]

Yep, that's pretty much what I saw. I had emailed a couple of birding 'god'/friends, and one answered last night, saying Hoodie, too.

Oh, Charles, I don't own a computer, or camera, much less a digi outfit! I'm fortunate to have even this cheesy interface and a pair of decent binos (Swift Ultralite 8x42)! LOL!

Wish I could, tho -- this pond is a perfect set up for some great duck/bird/frog close ups! Yesterday, in my car, when the bird was closest to me, I was probably only 20-30 feet away!

[Beverlybaynes]

After looking at the pic again, I must say that the bill on the one I saw was yellower, but otherwise . . . and I suppose that could be because it might have been a juvie.

Thanks for posting the pic, Paul -- it really confirms the ID for me!

[Michael Frankis]

Hi Beverly,

Sibley shows the juvenile as having a mostly yellow bill, so that's OK.

Michael