Checking on her eggs

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Checking on her eggs

May 23, 2015 by Mike Powell

Unlike some other species of birds, Hooded Merganser ducks (Lophodytes cucullatus) don’t seems to sit on their eggs continuously. They will often lay them in nesting boxes and periodically check on them, perhaps adding more eggs to the nest.

I took this first shot earlier today at Huntley Meadows Park as a female Hooded Merganser was getting ready to eventually enter a nesting box. When I first spotted the female duck, she was standing on top of the nesting box. During previous springs I learned that this was a sign that she had eggs in the nesting box and that eventually she would fly into it. So I waited and waited, hoping to catch the moment.

It may look like she is actually preparing to enter the box, but in fact she had just stepped off of the roof and was gliding to the ground. Unfortunately, she dropped behind a virtual wall of vegetation and I could not see her when she lifted off from the ground and flew straight into the box and I missed that shot.

Here are a few shots of the female Hooded Merganser as she paced back and forth on the roof of the nesting box, peering to the right and to the left to makes sure that all was safe before she entered the box.

As I was doing some research on Hooded Merganser ducks, I came across a blog from Lee Rentz Photography that includes a video from inside a nesting box of a Hooded Merganser. Be sure to check it out.

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Hooded Merganser, Hooded Merganser duck, Huntley Meadows Park, Lophodytes cucullatus, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto | 9 Comments

9 Responses

on May 23, 2015 at 9:33 pm | Reply Charlie@Seattle Trekker

You did such an amazing job of capturing the special moments in life.
- on May 24, 2015 at 5:09 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Charlie. I am both persistent and amazingly lucky.
on May 24, 2015 at 6:43 am | Reply Victor Rakmil

Lucky! Thanks for sharing the background as well as the photos.
- on May 24, 2015 at 6:46 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Victor. I’m amazed at how much I learn as I try to figure out what I have photographed. In this case, I knew what was going to happen, but it was not a foregone conclusion that I would be able to get a shot. I indeed was lucky to be able to capture that precise moment of action.
on May 24, 2015 at 8:35 am | Reply wingedprisms

What great shots of that duck!! 😀
cate b
- on May 24, 2015 at 5:34 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. She’s a bit of an odd duck, but that’s a plus in my book.
on May 24, 2015 at 9:16 am | Reply New Hampshire Garden Solutions

They must have great aim to get through that hole so quickly.
on May 25, 2015 at 8:25 pm | Reply Bella Remy Photography

Wow Mike..this series is amazing ! I had no idea they stayed here to breed. And your captures are perfect.
- on May 25, 2015 at 8:45 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  What I would love to be able to catch is the mother calling the babies out of the nesting box and seeing the little balls of fluff parachuting into the water below. However, the timing for that would have to be perfect.