We walked the short way down to the pond and started searching the area as soon as we could see. While searching among the Mallards, several American Black Ducks, a few Green-winged Teal, and a Northern Pintail, we quickly found the Garganey! Its tan-colored head sported a dark cap, dark eye line, dark ear spot, and short dark line from the gape. It also had a fairly long bill (longer than that of the Green-winged Teal's) and two white bars on the wings. As soon as it got light enough to try and get photos, I started snapping away.
I got this photo of the Garganey between two Green-winged Teal, showing the distinctive markings on the lighter head, rufous breast, and lighter sides.
Even though the wind chill was 12 degrees, we happily spent the next few hours getting more looks and photos of this rare vagrant. I got these photos when it stood atop a fallen log.
It walked along the ice close enough that we could tell that it was not banded and had both of its hind toes intact, ruling out the possibility of it being an escaped bird. Many bird collectors will clip their birds' hind toes to mark them. This bird showed no evidence of that.
When a Canada Goose lunged toward the Garganey as it walked by, it caused it to fly a short distance. Luckily, I got a series of shots of it. Unfortunately, many of them were blurred, but they still show the distinctive upper and underwing patterns of the bird. The upperwing shows the speculum bordered by two broad white stripes, and the underwing shows a dark leading edge, a white center section, and a gray trailing edge.
Other birds seen there were 2 Snow Geese among the many Canadas, plus a Bald Eagle that flushed most of the ducks, including the Garganey.
They all eventually returned to the area. We left there with big smiles on our faces and enjoyed getting the feeling back in our fingers and toes on the ride home in the warm car. I got back home in the late afternoon.
It was the first confirmed Pennsylvania record of Garganey! I heard that there were a couple previous sight records, but they were without documentation. This sighting is even more significant given that there are only about a dozen records or so for the entire eastern quarter of the country. This was my fourth Garganey sighting. I saw my 'life' Garganey at Brigantine, New Jersey in June of 1997 and saw a pair on St. Paul Island, Alaska in May of 2024.
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