This morning I observed and photographed one male and two female Common
Mergansers on the Big South Fork River in Scott County. The birds were a
few hundred yards upstream from the Leatherwood Ford Bridge. During the 20
minutes that I observed them, they slowly swam back and forth in a large
pool and occasionally dived and preened. I did not observe any courtship
activity. It will be interesting to see if these birds stay around like the
birds at Greenbriar in the Smokies. There are very few, if any, previous
records of this species in the park.
Chuck Nicholson
Norris, TN
