Lucky and Her Ducklings Appear

 

On the 23rd, we saw Lucky and her ducklings in our swimming hole.  When I checked the camera pointed at the river, it was fun to see that they had swum by minutes earlier.  I counted 9 ducklings out of the original 11.  It looks like they are growing fast.  Notice the one duckling that pops up from a dive.  Hooded Mergansers eat mostly fish, insect larvae on submerged rocks, and crayfish.

Common Mergansers

 I think Common Mergansers are uncommonly striking.  These were cruising by below the house, caught on my trail cam.  

A pair of Common Mergansers with the male still in breeding plummage.

I love how one of the ducklings gets to ride on mom's back.

Duck Box Success!

 I made a rather crude 7 minute video of "Lucky's" nesting and fledging of her ducklings.  Warning, the exit of the ducklings from the box gets dramatic.  The link is below.  For some reason you have to highlight the link and right click open this link to get it to open up.

                                                  https://youtu.be/gdkXbBp8EDg  

Contest Winners

 The contest window has closed, and we have winners!

First Place

Andria, from Colorado, came in first place identifying all three creatures.  

#1  Mink, #2 Coyote, and #3 Ruffed Grouse

Second Place

Nick, from California, was a close second, identifying the coyote, and grouse.

I was very impressed by Andria nailing the mink ID.  It could have been mistaken for a weasel or an otter.

A big shaka to all who participated.  You are both winners!

CONTEST!

 

Name these 3 and win big!

1.

2.

3.

Submit your 3 guesses to my email.  The first person who guesses all 3 correctly will win bragging rights and recognition on this blog (first names only).  Contest window ends on April 12.  Good luck!

Little Jewels

 Rufous Hummingbirds have returned from Mexico, with some headed for Alaska.  I took pictures of these yesterday at our feeder.

Spring Has Sprung

 We have a Hooded Merganser again laying an egg a day since Friday 13th.  We call her Lucky.  This morning I could hear a male doing its display call outside the box while Lucky was in the box.  Fortunately, she picked the box with our camera mounted in it.

Marty and I spent most of last Tuesday putting out duck boxes.  It was quite a slog wading through water and mud holes.  We have 10 boxes altogether.  Hopefully the Wood Ducks appreciate our efforts!

Yesterday, Gail and I installed a duck box at a pond about 3 miles up the mountain from us.  You can see the box on the right.  

This morning we took advantage of the minus tide and took Daisy to Ocean Beach.

Looking down the coast towards Haceta Lighthouse.  There was a sea lion on the beach at one point.  Luckily I was able to leash up Daisy before she saw it.  She would have charged it if she could!



This afternoon I saw several steelhead trout spawning in the river on our property.  Below is a link to video I took of a pair in action.  Such beautiful strong fish!

https://youtu.be/tskFe75BLoY