Just a heads up...you prob. have shot a drake bluewinger and a drake ruddy.....They don't have color when they are here in michigan....there is the rare occasion when they do, but normally they don't have their plumage until later in the fall when it is to cold here for the teal....and the ruddies don't normally have their colors til REALLY late in the season and normally they to are gone from michigan by then

 

Sorry, but there is no chance you saw an awesome drake ruddy in Michigan while hunting. Actually, about the only way to get a nice one is to buy one or poach one in the spring, since even in Mexico in Jan. they will not be good enough.

To get a nice blue wing, you'll need to be hunting in January somewhere far south of here and even though you'll probably have to sort through a lot to get one that is prime. In NC this past January we killed something like 20 drake greenwings and only 1 was prime. All looked great, but still had some pin feathers in the side pockets under the wings.

 

also the cinammon teal normaly does not come east of the rocky mtns. If you did see one at pm then your are very lucky and the guy who shoot it should have bought every lotto ticket he could that day. If his luck held there would not have been a loser in the bunch.
Not saying you did not but it is one of the rarest ducks in the country to see in MI in the fall.

 

I've seen one cinnamon teal here in MI, in the mid 70's shot at Nayonquing Pt. I do have one on my wall taken in CA, very pretty duck.

 

the only way to tell the difference between a cinnamon teal and blue wing teal is by using a DNA test - that is prior to them showing off their breeding plummage, which as stated doesn't happen until well into january typically.

not saying it wasnt a cinny, but it seems like everyone i know has "seen a cinnamon teal" around here, and i find that highly suspect.

 

not saying it wasnt a cinny, but it seems like everyone i know has "seen a cinnamon teal" around here, and i find that highly suspect.

Especially with the number of "Whatizit??" and "Hybrid??" threads that get cranked up every fall...

Statistically possible, but...

 

I did see one, opening day weekend about 10 years ago, the only one I've ever seen in 34 years of hunting.
He was in Goose Bay, Lake St. Clair, and I took a 60 yard passing shot, as close as he came.
No bird.
Ruddys are the only bird to have full color plumage in the summer versus winter like all other ducks.
BTW: I have seen Black Oldsquaws too, but early in the season, going out to the hunting spot.
I have a Cinnnamon on my way, shot in Los Banos , CA.

 

Forgot to be clear that by full plumage, I meant the bright Blue beak, red bodied summer plumage.

Carry on

 

Forgot to be clear that by full plumage, I meant the bright Blue beak, red bodied summer plumage.

Carry on

I saw one last year (first one ever in 30 years). Better than average color on him, especially considering it was during hunting season. I had a couple of passing shot's on him that I didn't take,, only because it was with my oar at about 4 feet... at the boat launch. :lol:

 

cinnamon teal in michigan rates right up there with 20# goose.

 

After an experience I had with Ruddies many years ago on Mitchell's Bay with a friend who uses this site (it's a looongg story, and he shall remain nameless :evilsmile), I don't care if the damn Ruddy is beautiful...I've seen enough to last me a lifetime :evilsmile And to top that off, the same guy went to Nodak with me several years ago (his only time out there), and right outta the box we're on one of my favorite potholes, with Cans, Red, BB's and Mallards flying everywhere. I'm watching some Cans work from my side, and all of a sudden I see this little group of ruddies working around his way. I start to say "don't shoot the rud...." BANG! He dropped three of the damn things with one shot...two of which were crips, and started paddling and diving their way to South Dakota. We spent a long time chasing them, and never did get one of them. AND of course the Cans headed for the hills. Nope, ruddies and I don't mix :evil:

 

cinnamon teal in michigan rates right up there with 20# goose.

The elsusive 20# goose...:lol:

Cinnamon's in MI, highly unlikely...not saying it wasn't but with people out there that can't tell a hen mallard from a black or a mallard/black hybrid, I take people's ID'ing skills with a grain of salt.


Chad

 

I have seen a cinnamon teal in the spring, in a flooded ditch along side a field on the north end of lake St Claire. I dont know if its the same bird but its always the same field. its around end of April and the field is full of teal for a day or two. I have seen him three times. each time I went back with my camera and he was gone not to be seen again. I have started carrying my camera with me all the time. in case I see him again.

I have only once seen a fully colored ruddy that bird was taken on the lower Detroit by a guy from US fish and Wildlife and mounted by a guy who worked with him.They were doing a spring duck survey and taking some samples they also had the best looking can I have ever seen. That was over forty years ago

 

yep thats what i want to see. picture /w non-photoshop background of a cin teal somewhere in michigan. Every year there's a post on here about someone who shot one or seen one but never any proof. The day someone posts a picture on here with a legit location then ..... i can start believing some claims.

99.9% of mis-identified blue wings which are so close in looks during our season that the_dude said it best, damn near need a DNA test. I shot a fully plumed blue wing but it was january 14th in Louisiana in 2001, hes mounted in my end table.

 

BTW: Have any of you ever seen the most elusive of all waterfowl IMHO:
The Blue-phase Ross's Goose?

This one I have never seen.

 

BTW: Have any of you ever seen the most elusive of all waterfowl IMHO:
The Blue-phase Ross's Goose?

This one I have never seen.

Bill Saunder's DVD that he has out, shows a Blue Ross in hand...


Chad

 

yep thats what i want to see. picture /w non-photoshop background of a cin teal somewhere in michigan. Every year there's a post on here about someone who shot one or seen one but never any proof. The day someone posts a picture on here with a legit location then ..... i can start believing some claims.

99.9% of mis-identified blue wings which are so close in looks during our season that the_dude said it best, damn near need a DNA test. I shot a fully plumed blue wing but it was january 14th in Louisiana in 2001, hes mounted in my end table.

Best one I ever recall seeing here was at Fish Point managed area about 5 years ago. We had a good draw one weekday late in the season, and got a unit right up along the south side of the refuge (#11 maybe?), and for some reason there were a ton of bwt in there that day. I recall we were shocked at seeing bwt that late in the year. And yes...I'm sure they were bw, not gw :lol: We got several that were decent colored, but we SAW a real well colored drake in a flock go by but I missed it. Imagine that? I missed :evilsmile Was it "fully" plumed? Not like down south. But it was PURTY! I've seen a few decent colored ones in Nodak too in mid-October.

 

Hey thanks guys for all of your opinions. Thats just what they are, opinions. I know my fowl. I know what i saw. The guy had the bird sitting in the front seat of his truck. He called me over and said hey look at this. And it doesnt matter what you all think. It was a full plume cinny. Also as far as the ruddy. Maybe i havent seen a full plume ruddy but you can tell the differance between the drake and the hen. Its funny how when someone posts here the good folks try to discount someone. More than likely its to boost your own ailing ego. Thanks for all your input but ive got enough duck hunting experience to id birds. Thanks.

 

Hey Gotduk, dont take offence. Hang out at one of the managed area field stations and you'll get a good taste of the arrogance in the MI duck hunting community. We/they are not all bad by the way, there are tools in every crowd. Good luck getting those birds!

 

Also i have yet to shoot a drake blue wing. Ive gotten several hens but no drake. I also have shot a few hen ruddys the last couple years and have seen a few awesome drakes but none in the bag.

Easy buck, no one is slamming you. I was merely pointing out that you will not get a drake blue wing in Mi during hunting season that is even remotely close to being mountable. If you wish to hold out for one, have at it, I hope you prove me wrong.

Same with the Ruddy. You may see some drakes with a white patch on their cheak, but if you think you seeing or are going to shoot a nice rusty fully colored up drake, you will be waiting more than a few lifetimes. Again, I hope you can prove me wrong. We kill about 20/year and get them with light blue bills, white on the cheek and "some" rust colored feathers, but nothing even remotely close to warranting a trip to the taxidermist.

The only thing I will say that is remotely insulting is that if you are reporting to seeing a few "awesome" as in mountable drake ruddies a year, you are mistaken, since they do not get colored up until long after our season closes.

Big difference between this, which is what you are probably seeing:

and this:

 

Thanks gentleman, ill be sure not to start anymore threads.

 

relax man. like i said before... i've heard the cinny story way too many times and never see proof - the odds of seeing one out here are way out there - combine that with the odds of seeing on in plumage and you are talking lotto odds.

that said, i wouldn't completely discount the possibility, just skeptical like i said. I've seen pictures of a fulvous whistling duck at a managed area about 30 miles south of the MI border in indiana... so anything can happen.

 

relax man. like i said before... i've heard the cinny story way too many times and never see proof - the odds of seeing one out here are way out there - combine that with the odds of seeing on in plumage and you are talking lotto odds.

that said, i wouldn't completely discount the possibility, just skeptical like i said. I've seen pictures of a fulvous whistling duck at a managed area about 30 miles south of the MI border in indiana... so anything can happen.

also - in the piles of bluewings i've shot during teal seasons in Indiana... drakes and hens are only differentiated by a slight color variation on the speculum. Virtually impossible to ID on the wing and still pretty confusing in hand.

 

Easy.........the MI Cinnamon Teal is the waterfowlers equivalent of the MI Cougar. If you say you've seen one, you have to expect someone to call BS and ask for pics-

 

Thanks gentleman, ill be sure not to start anymore threads.

If your going to get PO'd every time someone suggests you are mistaken, or doubts you, you are going to go through life as one PO'd guy.

I've shot immature old squaw that on coming in I could have sworn were scoter, I've shot deer on the run toward dark that scored 20" smaller than I would have guessed, I've taken in some sweet Can to the taxidermist only to have him point out they still had pin feathers...The list goes on and on. Being mistaken is nothing to be upset about.

Again, I have not commented on a Cinny, who knows what you saw. I am merely pointing out that the drake blue wings and drake ruddies that you see on the wing and think are plummed out, are not. When you do connect on one, you'll get the bird in hand and understand.

Like someone earlier posted, Ruddies are not like other ducks where they are colored up in their winter plumage. With ruddies, their summer plumage is what you see in all the great pics that get published. So it really is biologically impossible for them to have full color during our duck season. Not Caddis's point of view, but a fact that you can research.