American Wigeon - "White Cheeked"

While taking some shots of various ducks at Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden, I noticed an American Wigeon with a rather white face. It was among a feeding frenzy caused by a visitor tossing feed into the water. It really stood out from the rest of the ducks.

I did a web search on "white cheeked" American Wigeons and found that it is a rare morph. One site stated that it occurs in about 1 out of every 500 birds. Not that rare considering the number one can see around here doing the winter. Based on some of the pictures I saw, some cases are not as extreme as this bird's coloration, so I suppose it may not always be as apparent.

A typical male American Wigeon taken earlier in the day at Westmoreland Park, cheeks heavily covered in small dark specks.

Canvasback

On Monday, my last day of holiday vacation, I decided to see if the Canvasback that had been reported at Westmoreland Park was still hanging out. Sure enough, though not obvious at first, it eventually showed itself. A nice female.
The pond at Westmoreland is nice for photographing waterfowl as its not very big and the birds are used to people. It would have been nice if the sun could have shown itself, but the results aren't bad.

After that success, I called my wife. She was busy with her own things, so I drove over to Heron Lakes Golf Course when there had been reports of a Brant in among the Cackling Geese. I spent the better part of an hour, through rain and bursty winds, scanning through the thousands of Cacklers, but could not find the Brant.
I did, however find a total of eight male and two female Canvasbacks on a small pond on the east side of the course. I have only seen Canvasbacks a couple of times before, both times at long distance. It was great getting so many close views of these handsome birds on the same day.

Eurasian Wigeon

I found a female Eurasian Wigeon among a flock of American Wigeons at Westmoreland Park in Portland today. A male and female pair spent a large portion of the winter there last year.
Based on my National Geographic field guide, this is a rufous morph as gray morph females closely resemble American Wigeon females. My Sibley guide does not mention the rufous morph.
As the name implies, Eurasian Wigeons are native to both Europe and Asia, but it is not unusual for it to migrate down both coasts of North American, typically accompanying American Wigeons.

American Wigeon

A male American Wigeon seen at Westmoreland Park in Portland on Nov 22. This was one of the many American Wigeons that were hosting the two Eurasian Wigeons.

Ring-billed Gull

A more obvious Ring-billed Gull than what I posted in the past. Though I've only visited it once, Westmoreland Park appears to be a great place to get close shots of a variety of gulls.

Eurasian Wigeon

I'm on vacation this week, so I thought I'd get some birding in this morning before the bad weather settles in. I went to Hayden Island for the first time to see if I could see the White-winged Scoters that had been reported. I found them, but they weren't very close to shore, so my pictures didn't turn out very well. Same goes for the Surf Scoters, Western Grebes, Lesser Scaups and a Common Loon.

I then decided to go to Westmoreland Park for the first time. Fellow blogger Jen had seen some Eurasian Wigeons there about a week ago and since my only sighting was from quite a distance I thought I'd try my luck. My luck turned out good as I found a male and female pair among many American Wigeons. They are a very pretty birds.