The 6 faithful readers of this blog put up with my love of streams, rivers, lakes and fish. I'm always looking for a bird connection to my favorite waters.
A recent favorite is an obscure inlet on a Madison lake. Last fall I discovered that it fills with pike and other gamefish in late autumn and the first days of winter. I returned this fall and so did the fish.
Waiting for me this week was one of the coolest and most handsome Wisconsin waterfowl, a Hooded Merganser, aka the hoodie. This was a drake in his full plumage with his magnificent crest. He was socializing with a small group of Mallards but the connection did not last. They flew and he fished, more on that in a bit
Hooded Mergansers, photo by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren
With his mix of whites, browns, and blacks, the drake hoodie is strikingly handsome. But he might also spur a consideration of a consistent, probably unconscious bias birders and anglers might share. With regard to birds and fish we almost always associate the highest degree of beauty with bright and varied colors. Some of the warblers and other songbirds rank high on those lists as does the brook trout (and don't forget the pumpkinseed and some of the darters). That might even have some conservation implications. None of our grassland birds garner quite the attention and concern of the bluebird. The brook trout's extraordinary beauty might be one reason so much effort is devoted to its preservation and restoration. We don't have Slimy Sculpin Unlimited Chapters devoted to that much rarer fish which used to share streams with brookies. (Maybe the fact that brook trout are delicious is another reason).
Hooded Mergansers on a Wood Duck nest box, Photo by Danielle Brigida FCC
Just to get ornithological for a moment (skating on thin ice), the hoodie overlaps with the Wood Duck, the woodie, in Wisconsin and the same nesting requirements. They need a hole in a tree but are happy in a woodie nest box. Mark Martin always discovers that a few hoodies produced broods in some of his Wood Duck boxes. Wisconsin might also mark the northern part of the woodies' most abundant range while hoodies might nest further north. Years ago I knew some folks who maintained lots of Wood Duck boxes in Iron County. They reported many more hoodies than woodies. Thankfully, they maintained those boxes. I'm all for having more Hooded Mergansers.
Back to the hoodie's and my fishing. What was he after and why so many gamefish in that nondescript water? A friendly fish biologist speculated brook silversides. Use this link to discover more about a fish that is even less appreciated than the Hooded Merganser.
Brook silverside, photo by William Klein FCC
That fish is an incredibly important part of Lake Mendota's ecosystem. They number in the hundreds of thousands and account for 50% of the lake's biomass. I double-checked that figure. It's also a fish you can watch. As the year goes on and the population matures, you can watch schools of the in the later afternoon or an evening with a full moon and bright sky. The Tenney Park breakwater is a great location.
So join the pike, largemouth bass, walleye, channel catfish, and Hooded Mergansers and who knows what else in considering the brook silverside with some gratitude. And if you have a bunch of Wood Duck houses, good for you and I hope hoodies are some of your tenants.
Topf Wells, advocacy committee
Cover photo: Hooded Merganser by Mick Thompson
