Drake Lesser Scaup On The Great Salt Lake

This morning, I’m sharing two winter drake Lesser Scaup photos I took three years ago today from the causeway to Antelope Island State Park in Utah.

Drake Lesser Scaup shaking off after bathing – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2500, ISO 640, +0.7 V, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

I remember that morning feeling especially wintery, with a frigid North wind blowing off the hypersaline Great Salt Lake.

There were thousands of ducks of many species on the small area of open water near the bridge just before the island.

Among them were quite a few Lesser Scaup, a diving duck species I don’t have many photos of. Because of that, I focused on the scaup quite a bit.

This male Lesser Scaup had just finished bathing when I zeroed in on him to take photos. He certainly gave me some nice poses!

Winter drake Lesser Scaup on the Great Salt Lake – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2500, ISO 640, +0.7 V, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

I’m tickled that I can continue photographing Lesser Scaup here in Arkansas and Oklahoma, along with Greater Scaup too.

Greater and Lesser Scaup do look similar and identifying them can be tricky. Check this out for help with ID: Help With Drake Scaup Identification

Maybe I’ll finally take my dream photos of both species soon—after the weather clears up, hopefully.

I’ll see!

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Lesser Scaup photos plus facts and information about this species.