A friend whose home is along Alhambra Creek above Brown Street sends these photos of his backyard visitors.
Hooded Mergansers in Alhambra Creek: William Mechling
Regular readers of this blog will recognize the showy plumage of Hooded mergansers. This remarkable fish-eating duck nests in tree cavities in the east and comes out here to enjoy shallow waters during the winter. The excellent Cornell birding site tells me that sometimes several females will lay eggs in a single nest and adds
The Hooded Merganser finds its prey underwater by sight. The merganser can actually change the refractive properties of its eyes to enhance its underwater vision.
How cool is that? A bird with water-vision goggles? What does it mean that Hooded Mergansers are in upper Alhambra Creek? It means there are little fish for them to eat, which is always a good sign. it has been documented that our watershed, like most, gets less healthy and robust as it flows down to the mouth. Increased runoff from streets and drains introduce more toxins and pollutants. In fact the location of the beaver dams is historically the least healthy section of the entire creek.
I like to think that the beavers are changing that one pond at a time.
