On Sun, 16 Apr 1995, Irene Wanner wrote:
> PS A common merganser female has been spending a lot of time on the
> beach on the N. side of Seward peninsula. Any ideas why?

Common Mergansers have nested there in 1993 and 1994. In both years I
have seen a female with downy young in tow near the beach. And in 1994 I
watched a female investigating a cavity high up in a tree.

____________________________
Mike Smith
Univ. of Washington, Seattle
whimbrel at u.washington.edu
http://salmo.cqs.washington.edu/~wagap/mike.html