Denise Ryan wrote:
"Also down at the Beaver/River Otter area are persistent pairs of Goldeneyes
and Hooded Mergansers with a single male Green Winged Teal.  The Mergansers
were babysitting 10 ducklings.  A female Mallard flew in next to the
ducklings, so I assume they are hers.  But, in the case of wishful Atlasing,
does anyone know where I can find a picture of Merganser ducklings on the
Internet?"


Baby sea ducks (including mergansers) look quite different from baby
dabblers. Dabblers are variations on the standard yellow and dark brown
duckling most of us know and love from our toddler first readers. Baby
mergansers are essentailly black above and white below. Their head pattern
includes a black cap, brown cheek and white throat, and they already have a
tiny version of the narrow bill of an adult merganser. Books with
illustrations of goslings, cygnets and ducklings include Frank Bellrose's
"Ducks, Geese and Swans of North America" (on three plates at the back of
the set); and Baicich & Harrison's "A Guide to the Nests, Eggs, and
Nestlings of North American Birds" (Academic Press). I will leave it to
others with more avian favorites/bookmarks to provide pointers to URLs on
the internet with duckling pictures.

Good Atlassing,

Walter Ellison
MD-DC Atlas Coordinator - MOS
23460 Clarissa Road
Chestertown, MD 21620
phone: 410-778-9568
e-mail: 

"A person who is looking for something doesn't travel very fast" - E. B.
White (in "Stuart Little")