[Birdtalk] Birds at Pineview Reservoir

[kristinpurdy at comcast.net]

Gee whiz. While my friends are reporting Prothonotary Warblers and Anna's and Rufous Hummingbirds in their yards, all I have to report today are relatively common birds at Pineview Reservoir in Weber County. But I take comfort in the fact that somewhere in the world, these birds are rare :^D.

The best thing about being at Pineview today was being at Pineview today. It was tranquil and sunny and I wanted to sit on a high bluff over the glassy water and watch the world go by. But instead, I sat on high bluffs and watched the following birds go by:

Canada Goose
One juvenile Tundra Swan
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye 
All three Merganser species
Ruddy Duck
Common Loon
Pied-billed, Western and Clark's Grebes
American White Pelican (2)
Great Blue Heron
American Coot
Ring-billed and Bonaparte's Gulls

A Pied-billed Grebe near Cemetery Point was the most entertaining bird of the day. When I arrived, the grebe was wrestling with an 8-10 inch fish securely wedged in the bird's expanded gullet. The grebe became the Little Engine That Couldn't. The bird tried and tried, but just couldn't get that fish down. Finally, the fish flipped back into the water and I could see it swimming on its side under the surface. The grebe had lost interest completely and busied itself with preening. By the time I left, the fish had drifted 10 feet or so away. I guess this scene was the bird version of The Big One That Got Away. 

Kris 
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