I was checking the Melvin Stone quarry pond just before sunset and found
what I believe to be a Common Shelduck.  I am very familiar with this bird
from my years living in England.  Details below.  It was too late for
photography.  I tried to digiscope it, but the shutter speed were just too
slow.  The principal question in my mind is whether this bird is an escape.
 It is my impression that shelducks are fairly commonly collected by
waterfowl fanciers and used as ornamentals.  I know that several members of
this list have contacts in that world.  Perhaps they could check to see if
someone is missing a shelduck.
The bird was very large, at least half again as large as the mallards it was
swimming with.  It had a large profile, like a Spanish galleon as opposed to
a clipper ship, with a long, almost goose-like neck.  On the water it showed
a great deal of white: lower part of the neck, breast and flanks clear back
to the tail, interrupted only by wide dark back just forward of the bend of
the wing.  In good light, this band should have been rich chestnut, like the
side of a shoveler, but the light wasn't good enough to distinguish any
color.  Similarly, the head and nest were also just "dark" rather than
bottle green.  The same was true of the heads of the mallards.  The
scapulars were dark and there were two white "backpack straps" on the back.

The bill was large, bright orange, with no knob, indicating that the bird
was a female, (a shelduck, rather than a sheldrake).  There was a small
indistinct white patch in the feathering at the base of the bill.  No
interesting behavior was observed; the bird was just swimming around with
the mallards.

Otherwise on Melvin, there were a couple hundred Canada Geese, about twice
as many Mallards, 20-3- American Black Ducks, 5 Northern Pintails.  Amongst
the Canadas, I was able to single out two individuals I can confidently call
Cackling Geese.

Here is an interactive map giving the location and some caveats about
birding at Melvin Stone.

http://tinyurl.com/MelvinStone

Cheers,

Bob

--
Robert D Powell
Wilmington, OH, USA
[log in to unmask]
http://rdp1710.wordpress.com

Nulla dies sine linea

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