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November 21, 1985 - In Search of the Elusive MerganserSecond Section/ The Suffolk Times- November 21, 1985 In Search of the Elusive Merganser By PAUL STOUTENBURGH For the last week I've been trying to photograph a special freshwater duck that's been with a group of semi -tame mallards. This duck is usually found in wooded ponds and streams, but for some reason he's taken a fancy to our creeks. The reason we don't usually see these freshwater ducks is that we just don't have the fresh water areas for them. We don't have any streams and only a few freshwater areas. This handsome duck I tried to photograph is called the hooded merganser. It's rivaled only by the wood duck in beauty. It is black and white and tan; with a huge hood that it can raise. Once seen, you'll never forget it. There's a saltwater merganser called the red - breasted merganser and it's quite common throughout our creeks, bays and the Sound. Most often we see the females with their grey -brown color and rusty crest but as the season wears on, we'll start to see more of the hand- some males with their rakish black heads mixed with glossy iridescent greens and mostly black and white bodies. Like all mergansers, it has a long narrow bill with saw -like teeth running the whole length which gives it the ability to hold on to fish, the major part of its diet. It's been said they are such fisheaters that many duck hunters will pass them by because it is difficult to tell the dif- ference between the taste of the duck and the taste of the fish. These red - breasted mergansers will stay around all winter, caring little about how cold it gets as long as it doesn't freeze over. If that happens, they'll merely fly offshore to where the water is open. One of my favorite memories of tak- ing photos was when I caught these rug- ged ducks one cold but sunny afternoon off the old oyster house in New Suffolk. There was sort of a little harbor where the oyster boats used to come in and tie up and it was in this partially frozen area that I found a small group of these birds feeding. I remember looking through my telephoto lens and having the bird brought right up in front of me with its glistening wet beak, sparkling Focus on Nature eye and droplets of water running off its back: ice was in the background. A more wintry picture would be hard to come by. That was a handsome old oyster house in New Suffolk and it fit in so well with the old boat storage buildings that made up the character of New Suf-' folk. It's too bad we're losirik- .these trademarks that meant so much to everyone in the area. I can remember -- and I still have photographs of -- the oyster house with work boats tied up alongside when it was in business. They lay on the south side of the building, out of that cold northwest wind. That was the time when our bays had their share of oyster poles that marked the oyster beds. Often one of the poles would break loose and drift ashore. They were made of cedar and were beautifully light and strong. My Dad dragged one up to our place and set it up as a flag pole. Today we see clam beds being marked out on those very waters and I must say it is nice to see once again an industry utilizing our resources. Some people complain about conch pot buoys and clam markers, saying that they inter- fere with their navigation. I'm not sure it's as big a problem as people make it out to be. All I can say is they haven't seen anything until they go up along our Maritime coast where Mr. Lobster reigns king. There you'll really see what buoys, buoys, buoys are all about. Besides the freshwater hooded mer- ganser and the red - breasted merganser we see in our creeks and bays, there is one more merganser we should men- tion: the common merganser. It's as rare as the hooded because it also in- habits ponds and streams and lakes in- land. It's very similar in looks to the Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh MALE RED - BREASTED MERGANSERS - -These hardy winter ducks enjoy fishing in our creeks, bays and Sound. There are two other mem- bers of the merganser family, the hooded merganser and the common merganser, but these are much less common because their habitat is fresh water. red - breasted merganser but a bit larger. It has that crested hood, saw- like bill and black and white markings. I've seen it in Great Pond in Southold and I'm sure it occurs occasionally at Marratooka and Laurel Lakes. All the mergansers are handsome birds and, as I said before, fisheaters. Both the hooded and common mergansers build their nests in tree cavities although I've read where the common merganser can't find suitable nesting trees, it will build on the ground. Our local red - breasted merganser builds its nest on the ground but very rarely on Long Is- land. Hopefully my friend the hooded mer- ganser will stay around so that I will be able to photograph it. And I hope should some shorefront property own- ers see an odd - looking character sneak- ing through their bushes, they'll not shoot or call the police. I'm merely try- ing to sneak up on the evasive hoody. DAM POND, East Marion Photo by Judy Ahrens