My ride today produced 2 new arrivals that I haven’t seen in some time. The
first new arrival was 3 Greater Scaup on Veteran’s Pond, down toward the end
nearest Veteran’s Parkway. There were 2 males and a female. Unfortunately,
they were quite a distance from me, but I’m pretty sure they were Greaters.
The heads looked rounded and the white was more prominent than the white
I’ve seen on Lessers.

The second new arrival was a couple of Ring-necked Ducks on the pond in the
infield at Les Bois track, viewed from Remington St. Their white shoulder
stripe was prominent, so I had no hesitation, especially since I’ve been
waiting for them to arrive on that pond. 😉

But because of the similarities between GRSC’s and RNDU’s, I went back to
Veteran’s and took another look. The lighting was better at that time of day
and I still feel confident.

There were also more Common Mergansers along the river than I’ve seen in the
last few weeks, some of them molting into male plumage. I also had a fly-by
of a Cooper’s Hawk at Ann Morrison that stirred up a bunch of ducks but
produced no bloodshed.

Tom McCabe, Boise