Late this morning, May 17, I observed an adult female Common Merganser with
12 ducklings on the Big South Fork River about 300 yards upstream of the
Leatherwood Ford Bridge, in the Big South Fork NRRA in Scott County. The
ducklings were about 60% the size of the adult. They drifted downstream
while I watched them, and floated through a shoal area that would have been
whitewater at higher water levels. After getting a few photos of them, I
continued walking upstream for another half mile or so without seeing any
more ducks. I did not relocate the brood when I returned a short time
later, and did not find them in the vicinity of Leatherwood Ford. I think
they may have continued drifting downstream.
This location is a few hundred yards downstream of where I observed a male
and two female Common Mergansers in late February, 2017. I have not
observed any other mergansers in the area since then, but park ranger Tom
Blount had the following observations in the park earlier this year:
February 18 - 1 female on the Big South Fork River at the junction with
White Oak Creek
April 3 - a pair on Laurel Fork of Station Camp Creek. These birds flushed
and flew upstream. This location is 4-5 miles from the main river and the
creek is pretty small - only 20-30 feet wide.
April 6 - 1 adult male seen about an hour before dark on the Big South Fork
River about 100 yards upstream of the mouth of Bandy Creek. This is quite
close to the site of my February 2017 observation and a few hundred yards
upstream of where I saw the hen and ducklings today.
Chuck Nicholson
Norris, TN
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