[TopOfUtah] Red-breasted Merganser

[Kristin Purdy]

For the third or fourth year in a row, Scott Baxter has photographed a 
Red-breasted Merganser in the summer on the Willard Spur, an area that's 
generally fresh water to brackish between the southern border of Bear River 
MBR and Willard Reservoir in Box Elder County. While Scott's images are 
excellent, I can't tell if the bird is a drake in eclipse plumage (which is 
what I suspect) or a hen. The merganser Scott photographed in previous years 
was an adult drake.

This is an interesting record/pattern considering that the species' breeding 
range is Alaska east across Canada's northwest provinces and territories and 
southeast from there across the remaining provinces through the northern tip 
of the Great Lakes, the maritimes, and northern New England.

Kris