I live on Fawn Lake in Mason County, where I have maintained two Wood
Duck nest boxes on a decrepit Bigleaf Maple tree on the waterfront.
For the last five springs, I have had both boxes occupied by Hooded
Mergansers (each year a pair of Wood Ducks always come around and look
longingly into the boxes, but they are already occupied by the Hoodies
by the time the Woodies arrive). Yesterday morning I saw a female
Hooded Merganser leading about eleven chicks across the lake and away
from the next boxes - apparently they had hatched and climbed out of
one of the boxes overnight or early in the morning. This is the first
time in all these years that I've been fortunate enough to actually see
the young birds. Each year we seem to have more Hooded Mergansers on
the lake in the winter, so perhaps I am helping their population a bit.

Other recent sightings: the pair of Wood Ducks comes up onto my
elevated deck to feed on black oil sunflower seed at my feeders (though
they are skittish and don't like to see me watching them from inside
the house). Several days ago about 40 Band-tailed Pigeons were at my
feeders - and it is nerve-wracking when one hits a window, as they are
really big birds! Evening Grosbeaks have been coming to the feeders
since February; today is the first day in a long time that I haven't
seen any.

Lee Rentz
Shelton, WA