<<Note forwarded by Larry Lynch for Teta Kain>>
From: "teta" <teta@xxxxxxxx>
On Thursday, 8 May, at approximately 1100, 11 kayakers were paddling down
Dragon Run (the river that forms the boundary lines between Essex, King &
Queen, Middlesex, and Gloucester counties on the Middle Peninsula). We
were
in the area between the bridges that cross Rt. 602 to the north and Rt.
603
to the south where an active Bald Eagle nest is located. I was in the
lead
and when I rounded a sharp bend in the river, I saw a duck jump out of
the
vegetation on the edge of the river and patter across the river. I could
clearly see the creamy-colored back-lit hood of a female merganser as
passed
about 30 feet in front of my kayak.
Immediately 2 very young ducklings (I would guess them to be about 3-4
days
old) swam out of the vegetation across the river toward the female
merganser. Then more appeared, followed by several more for a total of
about
a dozen chicks. They were bunched together so tightly and swimming in and
out of the vegetation so swiftly that it was difficult to get an accurate
count. Both the female and chicks disappeared around the next bend in the
river.
I quietly paddled along and when I rounded the second bend, the female
again
dashed out the vegetation and downstream a short distance. The chicks
again
followed her. This time I was able to get several shots with my 100 mm
camera - poor pictures at best, but perhaps identifiable to species when
I
get the film developed. The female waited this time for the chicks to
catch
up to her and she then led them up a side channel and out of sight.
Others in the kayak party saw the birds; none, however, were birders, but
I
did point out the characteristics to one paddler to show how I was
identifying the duck as a merganser. It dove twice as I watched it,
definitely eliminating Wood Duck, Black Duck, or Mallard, the only other
species known to nest on the river.
There are several records of Hooded Mergansers nesting at Mason Neck, but
no
records that I know of for the Middle Peninsula.
Teta Kain
teta@xxxxxxxx
.
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