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08-08-11, 02:02 PM
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Ruff and duck queries
While out this morning, I met a birder who told me that two waders amongst a group of ducks were ruff. If so, a first me . They were horribly far away and I couldn't make anything of them , could someone give me an opinion on this photo, which I think is the same bird taken half an hour later.
2ndly, this duck seems to be a juvenile shelduck, but I never realised their bills were as broad. Do they narrow down as they grow older, or is it just a trick of the angle of shot? 3rdly, a bunch of distant duck, probably teal, in front of another young shelduck, but the one on the extreme right seems to have white at the base of its bill. Is there any chance it could be a blue winged teal? Thanks in anticipation Andrew 
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08-08-11, 05:09 PM
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Shielduck both birds, and LOOKS!! good for Ruff, stance,size,colour and bill size.
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08-08-11, 05:26 PM
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Thanks for the confirmation of the ruff; it's always good to get a lifer, even if I can take no credit for spotting it. As to the third photo, it was the samll bird in front of the shelduck I was querying. Any thoughts? I know it's very distant
Andrew
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08-08-11, 06:36 PM
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Ah, the one on the extreme left ;-)
From this photo I see no reason to think that the pale patch at the base of the bill is a genuine plumage feature as opposed to light reflected of wet feathering (or even wet bill base). Even if you got better views than this and confirmed that it was indeed a plumage feature, it is not enough to indicate something so rare as Blue-winged Teal. On Blue-winged Teal a really clear white patch would only occur on a non-eclipse drake, which this certainly isn't. You would need to record other features to nail a Blue-winged Teal and on anything less than a full-plumaged male this would require excellent views/photos.
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