Hooded Merganzers in Los Colinas

[jwilton]

There are eight Hooded Mergansers in Los Colinas on a pond at the corner of Royal and Los Colinas Blvd. They were there as of 11/6/08 at 1 pm.

Thanks to Gil for helping me locate them!

[jwilton]

Today the number of Mergansers has increased to 22. They are still on the same pond along with Canvasbacks, Lesser Scaups, possibly a Ring-neck, et al.

[lulubelle]

I'de like to go see the Mergansers, the Hooded would be a lifer for me. When I arrive at the intersection, will the pond be easily seen and is there parking? I ask about the parking because we have a park or two here in Arlington without parking available. I am also unfamiliar with this area, so any assist in easy location is truly appreciated!!!

[jwilton]

Ponds are used as dividers along Los Colinas Blvd. No matter which direction you come into the intersection you will be able to see it. There is an area of new development adjacent to the pond (just empty lots with streets already in) that I have been parking in. Good luck! They move around from pond to pond sometimes but as of 1 pm yesterday they were still there.

jwilton

[lulubelle]

Turned out to be a good day for birding! I found my way to Las Colinas and indeed the Mergansers were there!!! There were 21 by my count, along with 2 Male Canvasbacks, Lesser Scaup (m & f), 1 Ring-neck Duck female, Gadwall, Am. Widgeon, Northern Shovelers, and Mallards!! I was treated to constant viewing of a Belted Kingfisher that was repeatedly calling and actively catching either small fish or insects. I must say that I have never seen such an active Kingfisher - especially in the middle of a busy city!! I also got my FOS Yellow-rumped Warbler while admiring the Mergansers! My day got better when the Wiltons arrived (I had not enjoyed their company since May at High Island!) and we were able to admire the birds together - thanks to them I figured out that what I mistakenly ID'd as a female Canvasback was really a female Ring-neck! I know - how on earth did I miss the bill??!!!!They were kind enough to take me to McInnish park which was quite pretty and I suspect would exceptionally birdy in the morning!! I was looking for a Red-breasted Merganser that I thought I remembered someone posted as being there. Did not find the Merganser, but found 7 male Ring-necked Ducks in the back of one of the ponds on the left! On the way back home, I spotted 4 small geese (Canada vs. Cackling?) in the pond next to the pond withthe Mergansers. Stopped by VCDB on the way home - a lot of the ponds are dry, so there are mostly dabbling ducks there. Did find 3 Lesser Scaups (fe) on pond 16 and a total of 14 Ruddy Ducks between ponds 16 & 18. I actually got a decent viewing of a Marsh Wren!! I had told the Wiltons that I keep hearing the wren and never get a visual!!





Turned out to be a lovely day made all that much better by good company!!!

[jwilton]

Great pics and a great time birding with you!

[Vern]

That was a nice bonanza of ducks at those ponds, Laura! Good job on the captures.

[ken nanney]

Hi Laura,

Could you possibly post a larger, higher resoluton shot of your ducks? Your scaup look suspiciously like Greaters to me and I'm ignoring the head color of the male. In particular look at the relative size of the female scaup and the female ringneck which appear to be on the same plane relative to the camera. Lesser Scaup and Ring-necked Duck are near the same size, with the ringneck actually being a bit longer and the scaup a bit heavier. Your scaup appear distinctly larger than the ringneck to me.

There are some other details that I would like to view better before I really commit to the identification. Any other views of these two scaup at different angles would be appreciated too.

Ken

[Maestro]

I work in Irving. I need to take my camera to work and head over there!

[Richard K]

Ken
When I looked at the ducks I wondered if they one or two might not be Greater Scaup as well. But the photo was large enough and resolution does need to be higher.