Some late-season nesting activity led to some late-season recordkeeping, so here we are in October with final results for the spring nesting season of Hooded Merganser and Wood Duck at Huntley Meadows Park.
We took five boxes down that had not seen nesting activity for five years or more.
This was another year that was not kind to the Wood Ducks, with a 5-year-low 37 ducklings fledged. We saw five mixed-clutch nests this year, out of a total thirteen clutches. Perhaps we are getting better at distinguishing the two species’ eggs.
Summary numbers: 51 hatched/76 laid Hooded Merganser, 37 hatched/82 laid Wood Duck. This year’s raw data worksheet and the 30-year historical summary are available.