Hooded Merganser

On November 29 there were eight Greater Scaup ducks diving for pondweeds at some distance from the shore on Great Pond, and on December 3 I observed two pairs of Hooded Mergansers on Grondin Pond in Scarborough.

The two birds were noticeably smaller than the surrounding cast of dabbling ducks which led me to conclude that they were female Hooded Mergansers!

Later that same afternoon I spotted two Hooded Mergansers on Great Pond and four within Calvary Cemetery in South Portland.

On January 9 within a small pond in Scarborough I spotted two Hooded Mergansers.

A bit further down the road I caught sight of another early March migrant, two Hooded Mergansers tucked away in a secluded nook of the river.

Additionally, on March 17 along the section of the Sawyer Road that crosses the Spurwink Marsh I spotted three Hooded Mergansers and a single Common Merganser feeding in a shallow salt-water pool.

On the morning of March 24 the frog-like croak of male Hooded Mergansers pursuing mates intermingled with the shrill little whistles of Wood ducks concealed along the pond’s fringes.

Later on in the day along Sawyer Road and the Spurwink Marsh I spotted my first of the year Hooded Mergansers.

And on March 9 along the section of Sawyer Road that crosses the Spurwink River, I spotted one female Hooded Merganser and a pair of Common Mergansers feeding in a shallow salt-water pool as the rattling calling from a nearby Pileated Woodpecker carried across the marsh.

…highlights include a Yellow Rumped Warbler, Snow Buntings, Lapland Longspur, Horned Larks, a Rusty Blackbird, an American Pipit and particularly noteworthy ducks include, American Widgeon, Barrow’s Goldeneye, Northern Pintail, Hooded Merganser, Lesser Scaup and Wood Duck.