Black&white duck;Medium size;South-West Romania[banat region] (1 Viewer)

[otosnomos]

Description: see pics

Seen at the Timiş river flowing in Lugojel, started at 12 and stopped at around 13:48
Sounds unknown as they did not produce any call:
There were ones with black head and ones with brown head, Im guessing this is a difference between sexes;

The weather was warm especially for this period, around 7C; clear sky; barely any wind
Birding was done today;

Excluding mallard because:
Their size is not big; Dominance of white; No green for any of the males; No color pattern of mallards

My guess is Northen pintail

 

[otosnomos]

Description: see pics

Seen at the Timiş river flowing in Lugojel, started at 12 and stopped at around 13:48
Sounds unknown as they did not produce any call:
There were ones with black head and ones with brown head, Im guessing this is a difference between sexes;

The weather was warm especially for this period, around 7C; clear sky; barely any wind
Birding was done today;

Excluding mallard because:
Their size is not big; Dominance of white; No green for any of the males; No color pattern of mallards

My guess is Northen pintail

Another option can be domestic mallard but not sure

 

[Andy Hurley]

Goosander Mergus merganser, I think, because of hooked bill in the first photo and the wing pattern in the 2nd last photo and the last.

 

[01101001]

Apart from the Goosanders, could the bird on the left in the 4th photo be a Common Goldeneye (minus artifacts)?

EDIT: Additional arguments for Goosander: light brown head and white & grey body (female/immature) or dark green head and black & white body (male), slender build.

 

[otosnomos]

Apart from the Goosanders, could the bird on the left in the 4th photo be a Common Goldeneye (minus artifacts)?

EDIT: Additional arguments for Goosander: light brown head and white & grey body (female/immature) or dark green head and black & white body (male), slender build.

Mmm I see, they indeed do look like goosanders.
For the goldeneye ID, I think the head isnt too "bulky" for goldeneye.

 

[Andy Hurley]

Apart from the Goosanders, could the bird on the left in the 4th photo be a Common Goldeneye (minus artifacts)?

EDIT: Additional arguments for Goosander: light brown head and white & grey body (female/immature) or dark green head and black & white body (male), slender build.

I looked at these photos and immediately thought of Goosander, but although I still hold to that, I can see where the pattern could be also Goldeneye, especially with image quality I think. (No offence intented, we all wish our gear could reach that little bit futher, don't we?)

 

[Mike Earp]

Mmm I see, they indeed do look like goosanders.
For the goldeneye ID, I think the head isnt too "bulky" for goldeneye.

I'm in the Goldeneye camp

 

[Butty]

I don't see anything that clearly indicates goosander.

hooked bill

This is not visible.

 

[Andy Hurley]

I don't see anything that clearly indicates goosander.

This is not visible.

I saw it using a magnifying glass on my 65 cm screen. It may have been artifact, but then so must have been the reddish hue!

 

[Andy Hurley]

I don't see anything that clearly indicates goosander.

This is not visible.

What do you seen Butty?

 

[otosnomos]

Description: see pics

Seen at the Timiş river flowing in Lugojel, started at 12 and stopped at around 13:48
Sounds unknown as they did not produce any call:
There were ones with black head and ones with brown head, Im guessing this is a difference between sexes;

The weather was warm especially for this period, around 7C; clear sky; barely any wind
Birding was done today;

Excluding mallard because:
Their size is not big; Dominance of white; No green for any of the males; No color pattern of mallards

My guess is Northen pintail

Forgot to mention, this may be very important:
One of those guys done a low alt flight, I got to see a glimpse of their body:

The chest, throat were basically all white, the wings too but:
It had some orange-brownish color under the wings in the back of them, I saw that when it landed

The quality is much better without the camera, Im looking right now at goosanders pics and they seem to match pretty much the male desc perfectly, however the female version seems to give me a doubt because its head is very tufted, which I did not observe, as you can see guys the pics does not show any tufted head to the female.

About the bill: I could not see it too much but it was not bulky, thats all I can say