Barrow's Goldeneye - Washago

[Bluffs Birder]

The reported Barrow's Goldeneye did not fly in to the north end of Lake Couchiching until nearly 6:00 PM on Saturday.  It and the 300 or so Common Goldeneyes were landing and staying pretty much as far away from our vantage point as possible making any chance of a decent photo near impossible.  A good scope is your best option in-order to find this bird.  My thanks to the gentleman who spotted this beautiful duck for us.









Walter

[Brian Bailey]

You must be good at "Where's Waldo"!

Any time I've seen them, I've never had to search through more than a couple of dozen birds.  I remember being surprised that the best field mark for picking one out of a crowd was the black "spur" at the shoulder coming down to (or close to) the water level.  I had naively assumed, looking at my field guides, that I would be concentrating on the head.

BB

[Rotarran]

Nice pics Walter! You and I had very similar experiences.  I went on Friday though.

I agree it is a very beautiful duck.  It wasn't easy trying to spot it but the challenge made it fun.