Female Goldeneye? (pics included)

[WifeKidsandDog]

Closest thing I could find to ID this duck hanging out with the mallards yesterday:

[friendlyfisher]

Nice shot, it also looks like you got a shot of the Loch Ness monster in the background.

[WifeKidsandDog]

Quote:

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Nice shot, it also looks like you got a shot of the Loch Ness monster in the background.

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LOL, I'm not quite seeing Nessie myself here, but I'm sure strange things can be seen on the ice.

Cheryl

[Dotch]

Your ID looks proper. The head shape looks a little strange but that's probably because it appears to be wet, being the diving ducks that they are. The ring around the neck and the color of the head are in line with the pics I have. Here again, this is not a duck I've seen locally on the smaller, shallow prairie potholes I've frequented over the years so I would defer to those who hunt the bigger water and have seen them firsthand.

[WifeKidsandDog]

Thanks Dotch,

It was darting and diving and very hard to take a pic of, I kept telling it to stay still but it wouldn't listen.

This is another shot

[bmc]

Definitely a female goldeneye. They're very hardy ducks and stick it out up here till the very end. On December 1, a buddy and I saw hundreds of them on a lake near here that was half froze over. The drakes are big black and white birds with a black head, bill, and a white circle between the eye and bill. Very pretty ducks indeed!

Brian

[Tom Wilson]

Good Job with the ID Cheryl (and everyone else),

It is indeed a hen Common Goldeneye. By the way, nice job, I've never gotten that close to a Goldeneye, unless they fell to my Steel.

Tom W