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Junior was fortunate enough to locate the mudbug before it could escape or his sibling could scoop it up. A ray of filtered sun shone down on Junior as he triumphantly held up his recovered prize which was dripping water & had a stick attached to one leg. They all swam out of the area I could see so I didn't get to see Junior eat it.
Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)
Red Swamp Crayfish (Procambarus clarkii)
Dallas County, Tx
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
Got to see the awkwardness of chicks learning to catch crawdads when they came into the open briefly. Junior was following mom & was proudly carrying a big crawdad.
Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)
Red Swamp Crayfish (Procambarus clarkii)
Dallas County, Tx
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
Juveniles are awkward & soon Junior managed to drop his crawfish. Mom ignored the drama & just kept swimming. Junior needed to figure this out on his own.
Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)
Red Swamp Crayfish (Procambarus clarkii)
Dallas County, Tx
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
One chick looks for its own food and the other chick looks like it wants mom's crawdad. Hooded mergansers do not feed their babies. They do lead them to good food spots and demonstrate how to do it. Most babies live on insects until they can figure out how to dive and catch fish and other aquatic critters. These babies are lucky because their mom has led them to a place with lots of food so they learn how to eat well early in life. I saw the babies having lots of success in catching their own crawdads. Most of that behavior took place where there was too much shrubbery or it was too dark for me to get shots. I did capture some of it finally.
Hooded Merganser Family (Lophodytes cucullatus)
Red Swamp Crayfish (Procambarus clarkii)
Dallas County, Tx
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
Mama was teaching her chicks how to catch crawdads. She dove 7 came back up with a big one.
Female Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)
Red Swamp Crayfish (Procambarus clarkii)
Dallas County, Tx
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
I stayed still & 2 of the youngsters swam past me. First time I have ever seen juvenile mergansers. I would not have known what they were if mom had not been there.
Juvenile Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)
Dallas County, Tx
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
I found them deep inside a riparian forest in a rain pool. Wish I'd found them when the chicks were younger. Still fun to watch as she gave them lessons in hunting crayfish. The lush vegetation & filtered sunlight thru the tree canopy made for a pretty shade of reflected green in the water. I was awkwardly taking shots thru a tiny window in the shrubbery.
Hooded Merganser family (Lophodytes cucullatus)
Dallas County, Tx
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
Very young Hoodies just recently touched water.
This Merganser hen has ten ducklings in her care.
