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| Hooded Merganser, Lloyd Lake |
Because it's on a downhill stretch, I'm usually riding past Lloyd Lake at around 28 mph. Not a good way to see if any interesting waterfowl have shown up. This morning I happened to see Bob Gunderson's excellent photo of a hooded merganser with a crawdad in its beak, so on today's ride I decided to actually stop at the lake to have a proper look.
I saw the photographers before I saw the mergansers, so I knew I was in the right place. I saw two males (like the one above) and one female. One of the drakes occasionally swam along with the hen and would chase off the other drake when it got too close.
Supposedly there are more hooded mergansers at Blue Heron Lake, but I have yet to see them (or their photographers). They could well be on the southwest and western side of the lake, which I don't see when I ride through. I stopped for a look today and contented myself with ring-necked ducks, a ruddy duck, and a coot, since I saw no mergansers.
A light rain began to fall shortly after I left home on the bike. I pulled over and changed into the rain gear I'd stowed in my bike bag. The rain soon stopped, so I was dry at Lloyd Lake and North Lake, but then it got quite wet as I made my way to the Cliff House, and it was still drizzling during my last stop at Blue Heron Lake, and all the way home from there. As I write this, my gear is hanging to dry in the basement while, outside, the sky is blue.
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| I liked how the drake's hood was in a different position in each of the three shots. |
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| Racing Hood |
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| This is one group of photographers that was set up on the hooded mergansers. A few other folks were set up outside the frame. |
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| Hen of the Hoods |
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| One of the photographers who'd been there all morning said she'd gotten a shot of the hen with a crayfish in her beak, and the saucy crayfish had managed to clamp its claws onto her forehead for a moment before being eaten. |
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| This maple tree at North Lake was a good stopover for birds when it still had lots of leaves on it, but today its mostly bare branches were hosting a pair of squirrels who munched on its winged seeds. |
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| I was just standing on the edge of Blue Heron Lake when this ring-necked drake swam by... |
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| ...followed by the hen. |
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| The ruddy duck was doing a lot of diving, and I could almost follow its underwater progress by watching air bubbles rising to the surface. |
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| Cool Coot in Hot Pursuit |
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