Hi everybody:
I just started posting my Union Mills wetland area sightings in
e-bird from the morning of Wed. April 17th. I posted that morning from the
field regarding hearing Sora, Va. Rails (2) and a Least Bittern. As I was
putting my list into e-bird I wanted to post and share some interesting
behavior sightings that I had of a female Hooded Merganser.
I arrived and started birding just after 7 AM on a fairly foggy
morning. About 20 minutes into my birding a female Hooded Merg flushed from
a primarily cattail wetland area about 50-60 feet away from my location. I
was not really close enough to disturb it; it just seemed to fly up briefly
on its own, then circled and returned to approximately the same location.
At the time I made a note of it, thought nothing more and continued birding.
About 45 minutes later as I was walking around the perimeter of the
same cattail wetland a female Hooded Merg flushed again a short distance
from me (only 10-15 feet from me this time). It quickly landed in open
water and immediately began doing a distress-type broken wing flapping for
about 45 seconds. I have seen Killdeer do this on land before and also have
seen Wood Ducks do it in open water numerous times previously.
This behavior immediately reminded me of a female bird's attempt to
distract you from either a nest location or near-by juveniles. I have never
previously seen this behavior from a female Hooded Merg before but have
never knowingly come in proximity of a potential nest or young birds. I can
only assume that she was on nest in the hidden cattails. No sign of any
young.
I checked the MD Yellow Book and it shows the earliest Egg Date for
Hooded Mergs is April 14th, three days previously.
Would be very interested if others that venture into this area
observe similar behavior or eventually see any signs of young chicks down
the road. Also would be curious if anybody has found previous breeding
evidence at this location.
Jim Green
Gaithersburg, MD
work in moderation, BIRD IN EXCESS !!!
--
-- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Group 'Maryland & DC Birding'.
To view group guidelines or change email preferences, visit this group on the web at http://www.mdbirding.com
Posts can be sent to the group by sending an email to <mdbirding...>
|