Goodbye, Hoodies!

  Hopefully, the critters are correct.  Recently, the critters of the Bayou have been declaring the "demise of winter" and are heralding in spring.  Birds are hunting for nesting sites, the squirrels are playing "chase" and my hoodies have flown.  The Hooded Mergansers are perhaps my favorites of the ducks that visit the Bayou during the winter months.  They fly in sometime during late November and hang around until they think it is warm enough to begin that long flight back to wherever their home may be.  I wish they would stay at least for a while longer.  I never tire of watching them.

  Yesterday, I noticed that there was quite the gathering of mergansers near the pier.  I knew this collecting could mean only one thing...migration flight was to begin again.  I watched as the males were already beginning their courtship displays.  The raising of the crest, the stretching of the neck and the calls all for the benefit of their ladylove.  Any number of males will perform for the favor of a female.  Since Hooded Mergansers are like most other ducks in the fact that they are seasonally monogamous, the courtship starts long before nesting.  The little female has to choose her mate from the many that attempt to catch her eye.  The males parade up in down in front of a female until she goes into a "prone" position on the water which means she has made her choice.  Then, the unlucky chaps move their parade to the next female.   But the gathering yesterday was not only for a mate choosing parade, it was to prepare for the homeward bound flight.

  I will miss my sweet hoodies.  Their absence will be far too long for my liking.  Hopefully, however their nesting business back home will be successful and dozens more hoodies will make the flight back to the Bayou with the onset of cooler weather next fall.  Love my hoodies!