[Birdnet] Greater Scaup and Horned Grebes

[Kristin Purdy]

I visited two spots in Box Elder County today to see water birds: Mantua Reservoir and Willard Bay State Park. 

Mantua continues to be full of cooties...oops, I mean coots. Wow, do American Coots love that place. Other water birds included:

Gadwall
American Wigeon
(Both species above were liberally stealing the coots' green and weedy dinners each time the coots surfaced with a beakful)
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Redhead
GREATER SCAUP
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Common Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Common Loon
Pied-billed Grebe
HORNED GREBE
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe

Notable by their absence were any geese, pintails, GW Teal, Canvasbacks, Ring-necked Ducks, and the other two merganser species.

Quite a few Greater Scaup were at the north end, but about eight "easy" drakes and hens were 50-100 yards off the boat ramp swimming with a couple Lesser Scaup. 

Last time I visited Mantua it seemed funny to watch many Western Grebes fly. Today the Pied-billed were doing the same routine. I'm used to seeing Pied-bills sink like submarines when danger approaches; today the apparent young of the season were very active flying just over the water's surface.

A brief stop at a couple open water areas at Willard Bay turned up the most interesting bird of the day only because I don't think I've noticed one at this age/plumage before--a first-spring male HOODED MERGANSER. He was with two hens at the pond north of the park and the male's appearance threw me for a minute. He looked like a dingy, dastardly female. He still sported the female-type brown crest. But his pale iris gave him a Marilyn Manson look instead of the females' darker-eyed cute look; his face was dark gray instead of the paler shade the hens wore and his bill was gray-black instead of bi-colored with orange on the lower mandible. I've probably passed over this age of Hoodie in the past while thinking young males were females. 

Four HORNED GREBES swam in the marina enclosure with Pied-billed Grebes and Red-breasted Mergansers.   

Mantua Reservoir is in the town of Mantua off US 89/91 about 2 miles east of Brigham City. The main Willard Bay State Park entrance is at I-15 Exit 357.
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