Robert Potvliege discovered a male Common Pochard (Aythya ferina) at Silver Lakes, San Bernardino County, California, on 11 February 1989. Silver Lakes, a small housing development with two man-made lakes and a golf course, is located adjacent to the town of Helendale, about 24 km north of Victorville. Following the report of the bird, the pochard was observed and photographed by others, including myself, through 17 February 1989.
As roughly one-third (22 of 69) of the Tufted Ducks (A. fuligula) recorded in California have returned for subsequent winters (Patten unpubl. data) and California’s only Smew (Mergellus albellus) returned for three successive winters (Roberson 1986), observers made an effort to relocate the Common Pochard in following years. Much searching during the winter of 1989/90 failed to reveal it, but there are similar lakes nearby along the Mojave River that could support the bird. It returned to Silver Lakes during the winter of 1990/91, when it was discovered by Eugene A. Cardiff on 18 January and remained until 23 February, during which time it was photographed and observed by many. The bird returned again in the winter of 1991/92, when it was first observed and photographed by Curtis A. Marantz on 14 January and was seen sporadically through 8 February. During the winter of 1992/93, I located the bird on 26 November, after which it was observed until 29 November, but apparently not thereafter.
The following description is based on my field notes, on those of various observers who submitted documentation to the California Bird Records Committee (CBRC), and on photographs of the bird.