A sad day for merganser family

Last Friday I stopped by the small pond in City Park to check on the merganser family. If you remember, just a week ago (six days to be exact :) ) I discovered that the merganser momma had returned and had 10 (!) ducklings (click here to read this story - They are back!). So I wanted to see if the small ones had grown and how the whole family was doing. But the family was still sleeping at the far end of the pond... so I watched them for a couple of minutes before heading towards the big lake in hopes of finding some more waterfowls...

 

It didn't take long to find a big (and loud) family of mallard ducks (don't take it wrong, the only third of the ducklings is in the frame, others were swimming a bit further and didn't get in the picture). It was not a very interesting subject and they were swimming far away from me, so I continued walking around the lake.

The cormorants were lazy and didn't fly often (or maybe they were still sleeping too), but a couple of big black birds swooshed right over my head, heading for breakfast.

 

Just as I was almost back, I spotted a Red-winged Blackbird. Angry at something, he screeched loudly for a second before disappearing into the thick grass surrounding the lake.

Finally I returned to the pond where I found the mergansers had woken up and were froliking in the water.

But I also discovered that there were only four ducklings. In one week, a mom lost six of her children. What a disaster! I don't know what kind of predator was so hungry and why mom didn't protect the little ones... And while I was there at the pond, she didn't leave the far end, where they were protected by the grass and fence, and shared the rocks with two turtles.

The next day I returned to the pond and discovered something very bad. On Saturday, only two ducklings accompanied the mother, and two more were missing. It was a really sad thing to see. In just one week, eight ducklings disappeared and only two remained.

Mom didn't leave the children alone now and always stayed close. Not sure that this will help her, since I assume that the tragedy occurred during the dark hours...

The small family crossed the pond and headed toward the shore, where the sun warmed the water.

They found a small rock and climbed onto it to have some rest after a morning stroll around the pond.

It took a few minutes for the small ones to calm down and be ready for a nap.

Mom was looking around to see if any danger was approaching...

But she soon decided that the coast was clear and it was time to clear the feathers. It was funny watching her bend her neck to reach her tail feathers :)

She finally finished with her morning ritual and decided to have a nap herself. But... It was a crazy thing to watch, she closed her eyes, slept for about 10 seconds and opened them again. She looked around and closed them, only to open them in another 10 seconds. I think this is how mergansers sleep when they have ducklings. She definitely didn't sleep well, which may explain the tragic loss of her children.

I stayed there for a while before leaving and heading back home. But I promise to come back and check on the small family again. I hope these two will survive, but... who knows...

The pictures were taken on June 07 and 08, 2024.