Eurasian Wigeon at Long Point

I was sitting at my computer looking over some e-bird reports and noticed that Stuart Mackenzie had a Green-winged Teal (Eurasian race), at Lee Brown's today (near Long Point). This race (sometimes called Common Teal) differs slightly from our normal Green-winged Teals and I thought I'd go try for it. When I got there, there were quite a few waterfowl to sift through - predominantly American Wigeon and Green-winged Teal. This place has consistently turned up Eurasian Wigeon over the years and I was actually thinking to myself that I might find one. No sooner had that thought crept into my mind and a beautiful male Eurasian Wigeon appeared in my scope! I couldn't believe my luck. It obviously wasn't there earlier in the day, and I tried to make it a "Eurasian double-header" but I couldn't turn up the Eurasian Green-winged Teal. I might try for it again tomorrow morning.

Eurasian Wigeon, as the name suggests, is a breeding bird of Asia and Europe that sporatically makes it way to North America. So far it hasn't been known to breed in North America, but it's not impossible. The bird I found either originated from Europe/Asia, or perhaps it escaped from someone's private waterfowl collection. There are several of these birds currently in Ontario.

Lee Brown's sign on the south side of Front Rd, west of Long Point and Port Royal.

This is basically what you see from the parking lot.



A view of the waterfowl. Mainly Canada Geese, American Wigeon, and Green-winged Teal.



 The Eurasian Wigeon is in this photo. Can you see him?

The Eurasian Wigeon's bright orange head has a yellowish stripe down the front, whereas the two American Wigeon it is with have a white forehead, grey cheek, and green mark behind the eye.