Spotting

Hi Hema.
I agree with all that is just a mallard but to help you
I have just found this web site. It may be useful for future sightings:
http://www.whatbird.com/birdexpert/State......

By the way and to the "experts": this page of Wikipedia posts Anas rubripes as a possible sighting in California.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bir......

That is not frequent does not mean is not possible. What it does not seem likely to happen here in Project Noah is that "some" people that believe themselves to be experts to have more tolerance and a more polite attitude to the people that are just learning about nature. Hence my joke.

So Ashley,should I ID these as ?

Mom is a leucistic mallard, the speculum on the wing is a dead giveaway to that

Thanks for your always friendly input, Ashley :-) It was a joke that Hema will understand.
Indeed I had already removed the species suggestion when Jellis mentioned they are not found in the West coast of US :-)

Try the
http://www.birdforum.net
For ID

Mom is in pic 3 with duckling. Looks like a leuscistic Gadwall.

I wouldn't rule out a young gadwall, but mallard is possible as well. Do you have any other photos of the mom? I'm leaning more towards leucistic something like Jellis suggests, but being able to see the whole body would be really helpful.

Marta, comments like that are unnecessary. You may not "wake up the angry gods of PN's commitee of birdwatching self-appointed experts" if you checked ranges before suggesting a species? Just a thought...

Is it possible that the white duck is a surrogate mother?

I would say Mallard fledglings

pretty sure we don't have black ducks in California. No reported sightings

Is still too young to see whether it could not be the regular A. platyrhynchos but I suggest you A. rubripes because these are also abundant in US and look a lot like the females of A. platyrhynchos. (I hope my humble suggestion does not wake up the angry gods of PN's commitee of birdwatching self-appointed experts ...LOL ;-p)