The female Common Merganser was seen again today on the Middle Prong of the
Little Pigeon River in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, about .2 miles
upstream from the Hwy 321 bridge. This is the first observation of her since
April 1 (not without lack of effort)when she was with the male. She was
actively swimming, diving, fishing, and preening during the 15 minutes I
watched her, in the rain.
The male was last seen on April 3. I believe he has left the area and the
female is incubating, her presence today being one of her "recess" periods off
the nest.
I have been driving this section of Greenbrier two to three times daily since
the last sighting of the pair together (April 1) and the male on April 3,
hoping to get an idea of what stage in the breeding cycle this pair was. There
was always the chance that the pair was not breeding, but following their
activities since March 11, I felt they were breeding.
Beginning around March 19th, the male was often seen alone and with greater
frequency until his departure around April 3rd. Likewise, the female became
less observable beginning March 19th and with greater frequency became more
absent, indicating to me, nest building and egg laying. I have more extensive
notes on dates when either or both birds were seen, if anyone cares to see
them. When both birds were seen, they were always together. They have a very
close bond.
According to egg laying and incubation studies conducted in Mark Mallory in
Ontario (1994) and published in the Wilson Bulletin, the behaviors and presence
of the Common Mergansers in Greenbrier indicate they have bred and the female
is incubating. If this is correct, this will be a remarkable occurrence since
until recently, breeding Common Mergansers in Tennessee were undocumented. But
in 1988, Lloyd Kiff of the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology, in routine
curatorial duties, discovered both egg collections and records of breeding
Common Mergansers in Smith County, TN from 1897 to 1899.
I don't have any idea where the nest may be but have a hunch, based on the
sightings of the adult male during the females absence. Her location today is
one of the spots on the river where both spent a lot of time together in
mid-March and could be easily seen.
I will keep you posted on further developments.
Keith Watson
Pittman Center, TN
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