Vermont Rare Bird Reports 2024

Cold (approximately 36-38 degrees F) clear, calm. and sunny.

Kowa TSN-88S 88mm PROMINAR Pure Fluorite Spotting Scope, Kowa TE-11WZ II Wide-Angle Zoom Eyepiece 25x-60x zoom.

This was my 35th observation of this species, and was my 431st individual of this species.

The bird was on the open lake, northwest of the bridge. Other species of waterfowl present and associating with the Northern Shoveler were approximately 1500 Greater/Lesser Scaup, 3 Mallards, 3 American Black Ducks, 9 Redheads, 24 Common Goldeneye, 2 Hooded Mergansers, 2 Common Mergansers, and 1 Common Loon.

The bird and I did not directly interact. It was floating in a large raft of mixed species, and was often observed at the outer edge of the raft, where it stood out very clearly from the other species.

No vocalizations were observed as the bird was too distant to hear.

Per my checklist notes: "Drake observed in mixed flock of Scaup. Medium-sized duck with green head, large bill, and chestnut sides and belly." As previously mentioned, It was floating in a large raft of mixed species, and was often observed at the outer edge of the raft, where it stood out very clearly from the other species. Even though the bird was somewhat distant, the viewing conditions were excellent. After my initial surprise at finding this bird wore off, I had no trouble noting the shape and size of the bill, which were indicative of the species. The coloration of the head, sides, and belly were also easily discernible. I had been spending time sorting through the raft to see what other than Scaup were present, and attempting to get a count of each species when I noticed the Northern Shoveler.

Medium-sized dabbling duck with a large, dark, distinctive spatulate bill. Smaller than a Mallard, but larger in length and wingspan (but not body mass) than both Greater and Lesser Scaup.

Dark green head, neck, throat, and nape.

Feet were not observed, as the bird was floating. Large, dark, distinctive spatulate bill. easily observed from a distance.

White into black.

Black lower back, white patch on side before the black rump.

Wings mainly stayed folded, and appeared black and white, or dark with white markings. Did not see the blue shoulder patch.

White breast, chestnut flanks, white patch before black rump, but UTCs not seen beyond that.

White and pointing slightly upward.

Since this is such a distinctive species, and one I was very familiar with, it didn't take long to rule out other possibilities. The shape, size, and color of the bill clearly ruled out a Mallard or other dabbling duck species. The chestnut coloration of the sides doesn't match any diving duck species, and also the shape of the head is different from that of both species of Scaup that were present. Also, the head color, shape, color, and size of the bill, and coloration of the bird's body were different from the Redhead and Canvasback that were also present.

This bird appeared to be an adult male, possibly still in breeding plumage. The report was written with a combination of the checklist notes taken during the observation and also from memory.