Love those hoodies!

I’ve always loved hooded mergansers. Since I started watching birds seriously about 15 years ago, they’ve been my favorite bird species. In fact, they are largely responsible for taking me from a person with a passive interest in nature to a serious birdwatcher.

I was driving past a swiftly moving river in January in the middle of New Hampshire when I noticed a lone duck in the water. It was such a great-looking bird, but I wasn’t sure what it was. Obviously I knew it was a duck, so when I got home I opened the field guide I had owned since I was a kid. I had it narrowed down to hooded merganser and bufflehead. By the time I got home about all I remembered was the large white patch on the duck’s head.

I had to know for sure what it was. I wrote a letter to Neal Clark, who at the time wrote a weekly column for The Keene Sentinel. Neal wrote back and explained that it was most assuredly a hooded merganser. (He also threw in a baseball card in the return correspondence. I thought that was a neat touch — something you can’t do with email these days.)

Even though it took assistance, I felt a great feeling of accomplishment by nailing down the identification. Since then, hooded mergansers have been my favorite.

That’s why I love this time of year. Hooded mergansers are everywhere. Small ponds, medium sized rivers, large lakes. Brackish water, freshwater. Hoodies are all over. I love it.

I’m glad I saw a male hooded merganser that day. They are very unique looking and east to identify. If I had seen a female (mostly brown) from that distance, while I was driving no less, I would have never noticed it or remembered details of what it looked like by the time I got home. (Males and females are pictured above.)

How did you get started in birdwatching? Drop me line (“contact me” above) and tell me the story. (Warning: It’s all fair game for column or radio fodder.)

Be sure to tune in this Sunday at 1 p.m. (1490AM in southern CT and nearby NY) or www.wgch (worldwide) as Bird Calls Radio makes its return to the airwaves. As always, thanks for supporting Bird Calls.