Peggy and Bill,
Sorry to trouble you, but I'm wondering if this sighting and new record is in
Virginia, or where?
As you Cc'd it to VA Birds, and since I'm new to the Virginia area (and don't
know where Little River is, nor New River Valley),
please explain.
Regardless of the location, Congrats on the find! They have always been one of
my favorite species - they are Beautiful birds! I
wish I'd been there!!
Thanks,
Jon Little
Winchester, VA
----- Original Message -----
From: Peggy Spiegel <gramby@xxxxxxxx>
To: New River Valley Birds <nrvbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: VA Birds <va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, June 21, 2003 6:51 PM
Subject: [va-bird] Common Mergansers Breeding
Today, Bill Opengari and I canoed the Little River with Suzie Leslie inemail to
pursuit of the Common Merganser with young that she had found on June 4th.
We were less than a quarter of a mile downstream from where she initially
found them when Bill spotted them. Miraculously the female still had 8 young
with her. They sped away from us around a bend and out of sight. We canoed
on and finally decided that she had tucked them into the reeds but 5 miles
downstream we came upon a female with 8 young. They slipped past us and swam
back upstream. Because of the rarity, we assume that they were the same
birds. The creek was flowing pretty fast so it is conceivable that they made
it that far. We had great looks at the female, both flying and swimming and
feel that there is no question that it was a common merganser.
Congratulations, Suzie, on a great record.
Peggy Spiegel and Bill Opengari
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