Mareca strepera strepera
May 15, 1993: Fernwood Botanical Gardens, Berrien, MI
Our first birds of the day were these gadwall, who were swimming in a small lake by the roadside near Fernwood.
January 18, 1995: Merritt Island, Brevard County, FL
Spotted a female bird in with flocks of various other ducks.
December 21, 1996: Malibu Lagoon, Los Angeles, CA
December 30, 1997: San Rafael Grasslands, Santa Cruz County, AZ
Spotted a number of these birds on one of the ranch ponds out in the valley proper. They flushed when we stopped to view them, but not before getting a look at the dark tail feathers. Also, I was able to see the small squares of white in the wing when the birds were in flight. There were also several on Parker Canyon Lake.
May 24, 1998: Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge South Pond, Dare County, NC
A single Gadwall was seen at South Pond.
May 18, 2001: Stodmarsh National Nature Reserve, Kent, England
Originally I’d IDd this duck as a female pochard but later realized my mistake. A pretty drab duck except for black under the tail. On this bird, the white speculum was not showing, which made the ID more difficult. When I saw some gadwall the following day at another location, I realized my mistake in IDing this bird.
May 19, 2001: Lee Valley Regional Park, Hertfordshire, England
Saw a few gadwall, including one who was showing the white speculum, and later stretched his wings allowing me to see the red color there as well. Nice ducks I haven’t seen very often.
October 2, 2004: Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District, Marin County, CA
Had a really good look at a male gadwall – what a lovely bird, when you can see the details of the plumage! Doesn’t look a bit like the picture in my NorCal bird book, though.
January 22, 2005: Rush Creek Open Space Preserve, Marin County, CA
January 30, 2005: Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District, Marin County, CA
February 2, 2005: Martinez Regional Shoreline Park, Contra Costa County, CA
February 2, 2005: Waterbird Regional Preserve/McNabney Marsh, Contra Costa County, CA
May 6, 2007: Farmington Bay Wilderness Management Area, Davis County, UT
Great Salt Lake/Marina
April 18, 2010: Shollenberger Park, Sonoma County, CA
August 1, 2011: Shollenberger Park, Sonoma County, CA
March 4, 2022: Ellis Creek, Petaluma, CA
February 17, 2023: Ellis Creek, Petaluma, CA
First seen at one of the interior ponds we scanned early in the day.
Let me know what you think!