A simple mystery solved.

It has been raining here lately. A lot of rain. That's to be expected when you live in a temperate rain forest. So, yesterday, when the sun peeked out behind some thinning clouds, the chance to go for a walk suddenly held great appeal. I grabbed my camera and long lens and headed out.

I live in Maple Ridge, a town that is part of the Lower Mainland in southwest British Columbia. It is situated between the Fraser River, the Pitt River, and the Coastal Mountains. There are several other rivers, creeks, and streams that carve through the district; all of them are confined by dikes that prevent floods from creating havoc. There are many I have been on and an equal number I have yet to explore. I decided to go to one I was familiar with and hoped to find some birds. I was not disappointed.

On my walk I came across a great blue heron, a pair of pied-billed grebes, a large number of juncos and chickadees, and several ducks. One of the ducks confounded my ability to identify it. Female ducks are notoriously feathered in drab colours and this one was no exception. Mute browns sporting speckled patterns of various intensities gave it an attractive appearance. The thing that really stood out was a blue bill sporting a dark coloured tip. I had no idea what species it was.

Back home, after my short hike, I examined the images on my computer. I pulled out several bird books I have and went online to some of my favourite birding sites such as Whatbird and Cornell Lab's ebird. I spent a considerable amount of time using the visual clues available to me to identify this unknown duck. Probably female, blue bill, dark eye, brown with no visible stripes or white patches. I couldn't find a match.

That's when I had an idea (yes, they do come to me occasionally). I would join a Facebook group of BC birders and see what happened. Maybe I would get some help in identifying this mysterious bird. There was nothing to lose so I proceeded with unwavering confidence.

I asked to join then was told I had to wait to be accepted. I can handle waiting as long as I have something else I can do in the interim. They would be checking into my online presence to be sure I wasn't a troll or something. Three hours later I got the go-ahead. I put the photo up and almost instantaneously I got a response (thanks Sunny Z.). The bird in question was a female American Widgeon. I looked it up and verified the edict. Funny how I couldn't figure that out for myself. I think the blue bill threw me.

I have been impressed by the page. There are a lot of great bird pictures there. I will be spending more time having a look at what they have to offer. And I know that next time I am stumped by one of my feathered friends, I have a place to go for an answer.

Thanks for reading.     Ericspix     Eric Svendsen