Scotts Valley

A particular mobile home park in Scotts Valley, CA has a small pond that often has great birds in the winter. I saw a rare Tufted Duck here in 2004 and also my first Redhead, a female. In recent years, Hooded Mergansers are seen here as well as Common Goldeneyes, Buffleheads, and sometimes Common Mergansers.


Above is the male Hooded Merganser, surely one of our most flamboyant ducks. They are reluctant to let humans get too close, but if you're patient you can get good looks at them.

Next is the male Common Merganser. I see these more frequently along the San Lorenzo river and was surprised to find a pair in Scotts Valley

And here is the male Bufflehead. These guys can really be hard to get close to. They like to fly away or in this case dive. While not technically very good, I like this shot of the diving Bufflehead.