There is a rather small, urban lake very near where I live in Elk Grove. Last winter I found that for some reason it attracted a surprising amount of waterfowl. Included in what we saw last year were a couple of BARROW'S GOLDENEYES, a species I hadn't spent all that much time around.
So, my goal this fall/winter has been simple; to check this lake more often.
I did just the other day and this flock greeted me:
Included in the flock were at least 3 BARROW'S GOLDENEYES including this male:
Check out how different the posture and head feathering can look based on behavior; actively diving or not:
For more details on what we saw at this particular stop, check out our checklist:
