I was momentarily distracted by the Canada Goose With A Treasure while watching the two Hooded Merganser drakes show off. When I reverted my attention to the ducks I saw that a few more females and another male had joined the party.
The three drakes performed tight circle maneuvers…
… that ended with a spirited chase.
The females lost interest and pretty soon they all casually swam to the other side of the pond, out of my view.
Continued from Male Hooded Merganser Duo Showing Off
The second female toward the back got a little fancier with her tail action and the first one fluffed her crown up, showing a bit more interest.
The male-male competition got a little heated.
Then the female flattened herself, keeping her head under water for a bit, presumably to express interest in the males’ dance. I’d not seen this behavior before, and at one point wondered how long she could stay submerged.
They circled around her several times while the second female moved on.
Two Hooded Merganser drakes were showing off for a female, doing their best to strut their stuff.
The female didn’t seem to be that interested, and much of the action was one male crowding the other out.
Back and forth they went, in and out of reflections created by trees on the far side of the pond.
A second female circled around a few times but she didn’t distract the drakes from the first female.
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, SC
February 20, 2021
Also known as sometimes you miss the more interesting activity.
She made a nice two-point landing with a dainty splash.
But wait, there’s more!
I missed the drake hitting the water, but got a classic image of the two of them paddling after touch down.
I mentioned in my recent post Eagle: Fish for Dinner, that a pair of Bald Eagles has taken up a new flight pattern over the rookery pond.
This causes the ducks all sorts of consternation and on this afternoon they alerted me to the Eagle’s presence.
I only know that these are Blue-winged Teals because I saw them before they took off.
The Eagle that I saw was long gone by the time this flock got into the air, possibly already having snagged his dinner at a different pond.
As a safety measure the ducks circled the pond three or four times before landing again on the far side.
January 14, 2021
In tight formation this Mallard pair was on their way.
They provided me with two background options as they flew the length of the pond.
Magnolia Cemetery, Charleston, SC
January 10, 2021
I liked the idea of this first composition best of these three, but the Merganser’s beak gets lost where it overlaps with the reed behind him.
The second image has a nice profile of his beak and the water has a lighter tint.
Not surprisingly he turned away from me as he passed the end of the reed clump.
I had an idea something was going to happen as I watched a female and vocalizing male Mallard close in on another pair in a small pond.
Quack, quack, and splash …
the dust-up was on.
One of the females stayed near the action.
I have no idea which duck was which at this point. I don’t know where the female Merganser appeared from, either, but she quickly retreated.
This possibly is a female Hooded Merganser. I didn’t see her in the water and don’t see them often enough to really know. The Merlin app suggested an Anhinga, which it clearly is not. That was the first time I’ve had that app be way off base.
There was a small flock of Mergansers milling around in a an adjacent pond, in water that took on an odd color reflection.
First the male checked to make sure the female Wood Ducks were paying attention.
Then he moved back a little bit.
Look at me!
Of course I did.
No, it’s not mating season but I have seen quite a few male Wood Ducks
