Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis), Pena Blanca Lake, Santa Cruz County

This Long-tailed Duck was photographed by Alan Schmierer on 04 November 2011.

This duck is a casual transient and winter visitor.

This appears to be an adult male in mid-molt between late summer and basic  plumage: a black cheek patch on a patchy white face and neck, bill all dark as in late summer, some golden-reddish in the scapulars, but with gray feathers and a short tail.

04 November 2011, photo by Alan Schmierer

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