On the way up to Canada to visit some relatives and on the return as well I spent a few days in the Adirondack Mountains kayaking on different lakes and ponds. One one body of water I was lucky enough to witness several types of wildlife. One bird I saw was the merganser duck.
The only place I have seen a merganser is on lakes in the Adirondack Mountains. One this day I saw more than one female with a trail of young. This is the one I saw in early evening. It had quite the crew with it. I never counted. but I am sure there were at least a dozen young. The other female I saw in the morning had a much smaller group following with her. I did see both groups in the morning.
All the ducks I saw that day stayed mostly on the shoreline in well shaded areas. Since there were eagles visiting and known to fly in and out I am sure that was for survival purposes.
For those of you who have never been to the Adirondack Mountains, I highly recommend it. It was mostly in the low 70s during the day and 50s at night. If you ever go, go slow and enjoy the local wildlife.
Sharon's Iconic Travel Photography Blog 
Wonderful captures Sharon,
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks! It was hard as it was a very busy lake and they were not too far from the state boat launch. There were almost constant waves from the motor boats.
LikeLike
I remember seeing a line of mergansers years ago in the Boundary Waters, in Minnesota. It looked like a chorus line.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The mother wasn’t always leading the pack. Sometimes she was the caboose on the line.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Interesting. I’ve never seen that.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Fascinating! I have not seen these ducks before.
LikeLike
Great pictures! They look like they have little mohawks 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha! Yes, they do look like that. It has a certain cool factor!
LikeLike
Your merganser photos are wonderful. How nice to have seen so many mothers with ducklings.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I feel lucky. The best way to see some of the wildlife is by kayak.
LikeLiked by 1 person
One would need a kayak and bodies of water to use it on, but yes, in theory I agree. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lots of bodies of water within a few hours of me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good for you!
LikeLike
Look like a great place to kayak and absolutely incredible snips Sharon!
This reminds me of an incredible kayaking journey on ‘River Mahaweli’ I took on the beautiful island nation of Sri Lanka. We kayaked in the day and camped in the river bank in the night and it was undoubtedly a little piece of heaven on earth.
I didn’t forget to log it under my travel memoirs in here >>
https://sachsattic.wordpress.com/2022/07/24/exploring-the-river-mahaweli-on-a-kayak/
LikeLiked by 1 person
You are braver than me. I only do still water kayaking. I stick mainly to lakes and large ponds. I like seeing wildlife along the way. We have a really great Sri Lankan restaurant near me. Gluten free, dairy free and very healthy.
LikeLike