[Birdnet] (no subject)

[Alisa Quist]

Regarding the Mandarin Duck report from Mick Riley golf course: There  
is a very sizeable population of Mandarin Ducks on the east side of  
SLC, particularly the Holladay area. I have an irrigation canal which  
runs through my yard, and have had multiple breeding pairs here for  
the entire 10 years I have lived here. This spring, I had 9 males and  
3 females, the females competing over the three nesting boxes we put  
up several years ago. I believe we had at least one successful  
nesting/hatching from a nest box. My husbands parents live off  
Cottonwood lane, near Cottonwood creek. They have a very large pond  
on their property, with another irrigation canal nearby. We have  
counted as many as 25 individuals on their pond at one time, and have  
seen many Mandarin hens with ducklings every spring for the last 15  
years. They have 4 nesting boxes, and at least one duck-made tree- 
hole nest on their property. I would estimate 50-75 nesting pairs in  
the Holladay area alone. We begin seeing them in late Feb., and they  
seem to leave the area in late fall.
I have several photos if anyone is interested.

Alisa Quist