Common Merganser (female) with ducklings - Mergus merganser
To my delight I spotted this group of 8 ducklings with their mom one morning last week! Yay!!! They were so fun to watch! The little ducklings stayed close to their mom, and followed her wherever she went. Some of the ducklings even rode on her back!!! The mom also quacked to them if she was alarmed by any unwelcome intruders, and they would quickly group up around her. I've seen them several times now and it's a joy every time!
In the case of waterfowl, nestlings are born precocial and leave the nest usually within 24-48 hours after hatching! The average incubation time for Common Mergansers is 32 days!!! That's a long time! They are tree cavity nesters, and prefer to use old Pileated Woodpecker nests, or natural cavities in a tree trunk. They will also nest on the ground.
The average brood size of the Common Merganser is 9-12, but they have been known to have as many as 17 ducklings! Within 1-2 days after the ducklings leave their nest, they are capable of swimming, diving, and feeding on their own! The mom will stay with them for approximately 2 months, warding off predators such as minks, otters, foxes, and herons! In the Fall, they will migrate to southern California or Arizona for the winter.
Common Merganser (female) with ducklings - Mergus merganser
Common Mergansers are diving ducks that feed on mollusks, aquatic insects, crayfish, worms, frogs, small mammals, other birds, plants and fish! They mainly eat fish in the winter, when aquatic insects, frogs, worms, and crustaceans are less active.
All birds have a nictitating (blinking) membrane, a transparent extra eyelid. This serves as a diving mask that allows Common Mergansers to keep their eyes open underwater, while they swim with webbed feet. When at the surface, they will swim forward with their head underwater searching for or chasing prey. In shallow water, they return to the surface to swallow their prey. In deeper water, they may swallow fish while still submerged.
Spotted Sandpiper - Actitis macularius
The Spotted Sandpipers have returned to our river once again. I've been seeing a pair of them along the shoreline, and on the river rocks lately. I just love their beautiful spotted breasts and how they teeter on the rocks. They have a mating system that's quite different from most birds, in that the females are sometimes monogamous, and sometimes practice polyandry! They might mate with more than one male, and will often lay three different sets of eggs, in three different nests! The males do most of the nest building, incubating, and care of the nestlings and fledglings! The female's job is to defend the multiple nests from any intruders! Last year I spotted one of their nests in the dry river rocks, but I haven't found a nest yet this year. The brand new fledglings are tiny feather puff balls and super cute. Hope to see some soon!
Northern Rough-winged Swallows (adults) - Stelgidopteryx serripennis
Uncharacteristically, I saw a small group of Northern Rough-winged Swallows on the river this week. They were hawking insects out of the air, and then resting together on a fallen branch along the river shore. They are listed as "uncommon" in our area. What a treat it was to watch them! These Swallows usually nest in abandoned rodent, swallow, or Kingfisher burrows, in precipitous banks of sand or clay near water. They will nest singly or in small colonies of approximately 2-25 pairs. The female alone will build the nest and incubate the 2-6 eggs, for 12-16 days. Both parents will feed the nestlings. The nestlings fledge in approximately 20 days. The fledglings fly as soon as they leave the nest, and rarely return to their nest site. Both parents will feed the fledglings for several days. They feed almost exclusively on flying insects. They will begin their migration to their winter habitat in Central America in mid August.
Belted Kingfisher (female) - Megaceryle alcyon
The loud rattling calls of a Belted Kingfisher are a commonly heard on our river corridor! We have a male and a female that live on our section of the river year round. They are probably a mated pair.
Unlike most birds, the female Kingfisher is more colorful than the male. The male does not have the rust-colored band across its chest, nor patches underneath its wings. Kingfishers catch small fish, crayfish, and tadpoles by plunge-diving from perches, into shallow or surface water. Most of their dives are less than 24" deep into the water. After they catch their prey, they bring it back to a perch and pound it against a branch to stun it! Whatever they cannot digest, such as fish bones etc. is regurgitated in pellets!
Belted Kingfishers are solitary except during the breeding season. They are monogamous and usually only have 1 brood of 5-7 chicks. The nests are made in bare earthen banks by both the male and female. The male does most of the work. It will take the pair up to 3 weeks to excavate the 3'-6' long, horizontal, subterranean tunnel, that ends in an unlined nesting chamber! The opening to the tunnel ranges from 3"-5". 5-7 eggs are incubated for 22 days, by both parents. The nestlings fledge in about 16 days, but are cared for by the parents for the following 27-29 days. love these elegant, strikingly-feathered birds!
Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias
These large Herons search for food day and night! In addition to fish, they eat crayfish, frogs, aquatic insects, amphibians, small mammals, and other birds! They are usually solitary except during breeding season. They are the only species of Heron seen above the foothills.
Great Blue Herons are large birds, with a body length of 26" and a wingspan of 36"! Their long legs add another 2' of height! They feed on fish, frogs, crayfish, aquatic insects, small mammals, other birds, amphibians and reptiles! They can hunt during the day and at night! That's amazing! They are the only herons found above the foothills!
Great Blue Herons are usually solitary, except during breeding season when they usually form nesting colonies! I've only seen two Great Blue Herons in our neighborhood, and have never found a colony of them locally. One year there was a juvenile heron with an adult on our section of the river, so I assumed they had nested nearby! Apparently they build big platform nests out of sticks, which are re-used year after year. The following information about Great Blue Heron nests is from the Cornell website https://birdsoftheworld.org/.
"Great Blue Herons build nests primary from sticks. Herons gather sticks and other nesting materials from the ground, nearby trees and shrubs, or from unguarded and abandoned nests (including nests of their predators such as Bald Eagles). Stick gathering is done primarily by males and placed on the nest primarily by females. Nest building can take from 3 d to 2 weeks, and completed nests consist of a platform of twigs with a saucer-shaped interior lined with pine needles, moss, dry grass, or small twigs. Nesting material is generally added throughout the nesting period.
Dimensions: Vary greatly, from flimsy new platforms of sticks just 0.5 m diameter, to bulky older structures 0.9 to 1.2 m across . Nests used over several seasons can be about 1 m deep .
Nests are often reused for many years; maintained throughout the nesting period with twigs gathered near the nest primarily by the male (mostly when eggs are laid and hatched) and placed primarily by the female . Herons may build a new nest if an early attempt fails."
Olive-sided Flycatcher (adult) with nesting material - Contopus cooperi
This Olive-sided Flycatcher has recently arrived in our neighborhood, from as far south as Bolivia, a distance of approximately 5,300 miles!! ! They come here to nest and raise their young! The nests I've seen have been small, cup shaped nests built away from the trunk of alder trees, on the saddle of a leafy branch. The nests are made by the females out of rootlets and twigs, and lined with grasses, fine rootlets, or pine needles.
Olive-sided Flycatcher (adult) - Contopus cooperi
On average, there are three to four eggs in a nest. The incubation period is approximately 14 days. Nestlings are fed mainly flying insects, such as dragonflies, flies, bees, wasps, flying ants, moths, and grasshoppers. The nestlings fledge in 15–19 days after they hatch. The parents continue to feed them for another week after they fledge.
Hairy Woodpecker (female) - Dryobates villosus
Hairy Woodpeckers feed on wood boring beetles and their larvae, ants, bees, wasps, butterfly caterpillars, grasshoppers, crickets, cockroaches, spiders and millipedes. They excavate nests in the trunks of dead trees, in which the female will lay 4-7 eggs. Both parents share the incubation period of 11-12 days. They regurgitate digested foods to feed their young nestlings. As nestlings mature, they are fed whole invertebrates. There are usually 4-7 nestlings in a nest. The nestlings are fed approximately 7 times an hour, from sunrise to sunset, for 28-30 days! That's a total of 3,000 feedings before the nestlings leave their nest! Fledglings remain dependent on their parents for 2-4 more weeks.
Storm Clouds in the Lakes Basin
It Rained during our First Swim in the Lakes Basin!
Back on June 6th, my friend Nancy and I decided to hike up to the Tamarack Lakes. Unfortunately we encountered a creek that was running too high and fast to cross, so we couldn't get to the lakes. We decided to go to nearby Saxonia Lake instead, and ended up SWIMMING in it! It was our first swim of the year and the water was definitely cool, but absolutely do-able!
Saxonia Lake 6-7-25
There were glorious, puffy, white and dark-gray clouds all day and we did get rained on! We had the lake to ourselves, and didn't see another person the whole day! It was fabulous! The clouds made the landscape so spectacular!
A mesmerizing cloud reflection in Saxonia Lake
Western Azaleas - Rhododendron occidentale
To our delight there were groups of Western Azaleas in bloom along the lake! These large flowers have one of the most beautiful fragrances I've ever found in the wild. This is the highest elevation (6,496') I've ever seen these beautiful shrubs. We were actually quite surprised to see them! It turns out that they can be found up to 7,000' in elevation. They are deciduous and drop all their leaves in the fall.
Dugan's Pond
On the way to Saxonia Lake we passed Dugan's Pond.
Mallard (female) & ducklings - Buffleheads (female)
Anas platyrhynchos - Bucephala albeola
Every year we see ducks at this pond. This year we saw three ducklings and one female Mallard, as well as three distant female Buffleheads! It is such a peaceful little pond!
Raindrops on Dugan's Pond
On the way home we got caught in a refreshing cloudburst at Dugan's Pond! The raindrop ripples were wonderful and the fragrance of the damp earth enveloped us! Ahh!!!
Dugan's Pond raindrops! What a beautiful way to end a fabulous day!
Rainy mist slightly obscuring the Sierra Buttes
What's happening in the Lakes Basin?
Where are all the mammals?
After 8 years of posting my blog, I've decided that I'm only going to post my blog every TWO weeks from now on. Check back, in 11 days, on July 5th for my next natural history blog.
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