So today I reminded myself I am not the best birder in the world. Something everyone needs to pay attention to. First impressions are often correct but not always. Tony Leukering taught me shape and structure are huge in bird ID. Plumage changes but structure rarely does. I was fairly convinced the Marston duck was a tufted duck. I saw and photo'd the bird fairly close up. In defense of everyone else who reported this bird, it was never close to shore after my initial sighting. From a distance, it appeared to be a TUDU but was not easy to confirm. After looking at my photos, I became suspicious. Shape and structure did not look right. I'd rather be wrong and have a clean list than fudge a rarity.
I'm ok with mis-IDing this one, because I won't next time.
Glenn Walbek
Castle Rock, CO
Sent from Mail for Windows 10
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