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I saw a pair of ducks in Corinne in Box Elder
County today that were 3/4 Mallard. The female was all Mallard and the
male was part Mallard and part indeterminate parentage. I named him
the Who'syerdaddy Duck. I finally gave up trying to figure
out the duck's mystery parent and I listlessly flipped
through big Sibley. YOWSA! There it was! "My" male hybrid is
pictured at the bottom of page 83, an American Black Duck x Mallard. The
duck I saw and the one pictured are virtually identical. The only
variation in the real thing was some additional green spotting on the face
just behind the bill. If any of you students of waterfowl have ideas
on more likely parent combinations that would produce a duck of this
stripe, by all means, suggest!
The hybrid may seem an unlikely duck to find
here. But perhaps this one is enroute to the western-most range of the
American Black Duck in Alberta or Saskatchewan, and due north of
Utah. Finally, an idle musing--for
the birder who wants to count this bird on his or her Utah
list, if you see it, can you count half an American Black Duck?
I saw the pair on 6800W, just 100 feet south of the
intersection of 6800W and UT 83. The ducks were in a stream or
irrigation channel on the east side of the road. I was headed out to pick
up where Lu Giddings left off yesterday to witness the spectacle of
thousands of Snow Geese in farm fields. But alas, it was not meant to
be. The geese have flown the proverbial coop. I drove a grid pattern
from the Chesapeake Gun Club north to the road to the Box Elder Landfill, and
did not find them.
Much later in the afternoon, around 5:30, I saw a
Short-eared Owl at an extreme distance hunting at Public Shooting Grounds
WMA. I had pulled off UT 83 at mm 11 to scope the
dabblers in a large, open expanse of water on the south side of the
highway. The owl was hunting over the marshy area past the southern
shore. I watched it for about 10 minutes with the scope and was able to
pick up the pale, buffy patches at the base of the primaries on the upper side
of the owl's wings. This owl is often termed 'harrier-like' in its flight
pattern, but a few differences emerged that I found significant. The owl
barely stopped flapping during my 10-minute watch. A
harrier sails a lot. Even at the significant distance, the owl's wings
were clearly broader than a harrier's and the blunt head was
apparent. Also, the owl never held its wings in the characteristic
harrier dihedral. When it dropped to the ground a few times,
its posture distinctly reminded me of a Barn Owl performing the same
maneuver--twisting, skittering, acrobatic.
I've seen Short-eared Owls at that location
before. Keep your eyes out for them anywhere along UT 83. Other
birders have gotten much better looks along that road and last summer, I found
several carcasses along the shoulder.
Kris
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