On Friday March 11, I followed up on a tip by a friend here in Sevier County
that she thought she saw Mergansers near the "hydraulics" in Greenbrier, a
rather turbulent water hole on the Middle Prong of the Little Pigeon River. I
thought Hoodeds for sure, but not quizzing her enough, didn't even consider
Commons. On Friday, just below the hydraulics and between the first and second
parking areas, there, perched on a river rocks, were adult male and female
Common Mergansers!!! The friend, Olwen Claiborne, first saw them on March 2,
they are still present today, so they have been around for at least12 days now.
I am still unable to attach photos to this forum. If someone wants to post,
I'll be happy to send a photo or two to you. But here is the FB link to a page
where the photos are, https://www.facebook.com/groups/153840341430644/ ;
Or here is the ebird checklist link.
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S28140068 ;
What makes this even more interesting is that while photographing the birds on
Friday, the female actually laid down in the water, assuming the mating
position, but they did not mate.
Even more interesting is that another friend, Roger Trentham, reported these
birds, without photos, on the same section of river on April 15, 2015! He
posted an ID question to Facebook page, Birds and Birding in Sevier County, but
no one relocated the birds or identified them as potentially being a Merganser.
Roger, after looking at the posts I made to this Facebook page on Friday, said
these were the same species.
Yet, more interesting, Kevin Burke, informed me that there are breeding Common
Mergansers in North Carolina on the Green River!
So, with entirely circumstantial evidence, there may be breeding Common
Mergansers in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Could this species be making a return to breeding in the southern mountain
streams?
I will try to keep a watch on these birds throughout the spring, hopefully if
they do nest, they will do so soon before the throngs of people begin
innundating this section of river.
Keith Watson
Pittman Center, TN
