[Birdtalk] Mona reservoir birds

[L. D. Giddings]

Earlier this morning Dennis Shirley and I spent some time checking Mona 
reservoir. We saw 30+ species, most notable of which were near the dam 
and which include:

- a horned grebe in standard plumage
- a hooded merganser hen
- a flock of about 40 red-breasted mergansers, all hens
- two common loons
- a drake canvasback, possibly in the company of 5 females (seen from a 
considerable distance in bad light)

The reservoir was teeming with other waterfowl, including mallards, 
teal, gadwall, lesser scaup, bufflehead, Canada geese, eared grebe, 
Western grebe, and a few Clark's grebe. About 20 killdeer were seen on 
the mudflats at the inlet end of the lake. Gulls were numerous but too 
distant to identify. Around the reservoir red-tailed hawks were common, 
as always. A ferruginous hawk, American kestrel, prairie falcon, and 
peregrine falcon were also seen in the vicinity.

A quick stop at Secret Pond in Goshen produced a lone drake wood duck 
hiding beneath the Russian olives on the far side of the pond. Several 
coots and an American wigeon were keeping it company.

Dennis also asked me to report that he spotted three male hooded 
mergansers on the pond on the 3rd hole of the Spanish Oaks golf  course 
in Spanish Fork yesterday (Wednesday) morning. I won't embarrass Dennis 
by saying what he was doing on a golf course, but it wasn't birding. At 
any rate, the golf course is immediately west of the mouth of Spanish 
Fork canyon. The pond on which the birds were seen is visible from the 
canal road that runs to the south.

Lu Giddings