Out of the six cygnets that we saw riding on their mother’s back last Spring, two were killed by the male swan and the rest were either taken by the Cooper’s Hawk, the big black snake we see swimming by on the west end of the lake, three snapping turtles bigger than the size of a dinner plate, some leather backs, or any other creature lurking on the shoreline.
We’ve also observed alot of ducklings disappearing one sad day at a time. One family of fourteen dwindled down to one.
While I haven’t seen any baby mergansers (merganslettes?), it’s fun to watch them dive for clams and break them in half out in the lake.
Nature goes on despite the presence of humans here.
-Becky Consonni