Diving duck with orange bill, yellow eye, large dark brown head in Elk, California (1 Viewer)

[Circus]

My online research is turning up nothing with this combination of features. It was calmly floating in a small brackish pond adjacent to the sea. Solitary, no female to be seen.

 

[wheatearlp]

What was the colour of the rest of the bird?

 

[Circus]

Light, nearly white breast, fading to gray going back, with a dark gray to black back. No sharp edges to the white/gray/black. My wife said that she saw orange feet, but its possible she was seeing the bright orange bill reflected in the water.

 

[qwerty5]

Sounds like a goldeneye

 

[Circus]

Female goldeneye does seem to be correct (I was wrongly convinced this bird was male). My bird had an entirely bright orange bill, and I have now found some online pictures with and entirely orange bill. Orange feet too!

 

[Circus]

Oh, and the bill was definitely orange, not yellow. The contrast between the intense yellow eye and orange bill was striking.

 

[wheatearlp]

A definite orangey/yellow bill would make it a female Barrow's Goldeneye. I'm not familiar with its distribution in the US, so don't know how scarce it is in California.

 

[Joern Lehmhus]

ML226915841 - Barrow's Goldeneye - Macaulay Library

Macaulay Library ML226915841; © Blair Dudeck; Comox-Strathcona, British Columbia, Canada

macaulaylibrary.org

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/assets/photo/63908661-480px.jpg

https://static.wixstatic.com/media/2653f4_bfe635e9c6f442f59ea4d6cdac9d8007~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_980,h_551,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/2653f4_bfe635e9c6f442f59ea4d6cdac9d8007~mv2.jpg

Yes; Female Barrows is a very good match with the description.
Rarely there are female Common Goldeneyes showing an all-orange bill, but in Barrows Goldeneye females in North America the orange bill is the common bill color.
Head and bill shape between the two species differ though it can be tough to distinguish between species on single photos:

http://www.jeaniron.ca/2010/FemaleGoldeneyes.pdf

Distinguishing female Barrow’s and Common Goldeneyes – Sibley Guides

www.sibleyguides.com