I participated in the May Count from Pennyfield to Violet Lock on  Saturday.  
The highlight for the team was finding an adult female Common  Merganser with 
30 young swimming near the shoreline about 1/4 mile south of  Violet Lock.  
The young then perched with the adult on  a nearby rock providing an excellent 
photo op, but alas no one  had a camera.  While we were contemplating the size 
of the brood and had  concluded that it certainly must be a two broods,  
another adult female  approached the rock but was driven off by the female in 
command of the  young.  Anyone with knowledge of the breeding activities of Common 
 Mergansers care to comment?
 
Ralph Wall
Great Falls, VA
 
 



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