Pony
01-28-2008, 18:54
As luck would have it my camera batteries were dead, so I couldn't get a picture. Anyway, before I could get a positive ID it flew away, but I am reasonably sure this is what I saw. I ruled it out as a hooded merganser as there was no brown and it didn't have a sharp looking bill. Unlike Barrow's or the common Goldeneye the white patch was much larger and behind the eye. What makes me unsure is that my Peterson guide says that their winter range extends into Ohio, but the Audobon guide does not show Ohio in its range at all. It was on a river, by itself, and when it flew away had short quick beats of the wing, I didn't get a good enough look in flight to confirm wing patches. Is there another species that I could be mistaking this with?