Female Hooded Merganser, Mississippi Valley, Green Island Wetlands, Iowa
This female Hooded Merganser was as calm as a bird can be. I was really wondering if there were some ducklings nearby. I have photographed the offspring of Hooded Mergansers May 1st already a few years ago, but it didn’t seem like this female was too worried about any juveniles. However, we can’t expect to see the male Hooded Mergansers around the females this time of the year. Once the female begins to incubate, the male abandons her.
The water level in the Green Island Wetlands is the lowest I have seen in years right now. This is not always pretty for a photographer that looks for a nice background, but it is probably good for the wetlands. The high water level of the last few years has killed lots of trees and shrubs and has a huge negative impact on many birds, except maybe for geese and some ducks. There are still some dead trees that make a home for a few woodpeckers and tree swallows. But where do they go when the last tree trunk is not standing anymore? I have watched that and it is amazing how fast a whole grove of trees is nothing but a flat pile of decaying wood in the water. Some land is finally getting dry right now and maybe some of the shrubs may recover. I’m definitely not an expert on the biology of this ecosystem, but my picture library tells me exactly what birds I have not had in front of the lens lately…