At about 9 a.m., the sunlight is subdued but not totally muted by the stratospheric cloud cover. The temperature is about a balmy 32 degrees.
Waterfowl love it cold. As long as the waterway doesn’t freeze over, they’re content.
On this day, the river is teeming with waterfowl. The numbers have grown dramatically since the arrival of the goldeneyes on November 18. The uptick may be associated with the dropping temperatures.
There have been arrivals and departures. Most of the Canada Geese that stopped in for a rest on December 5 have left the area. Locally, the Merrimack River has become Hotel Lowell for migrators. Waterfowl come and go, while some stay awhile.
I notice five Hooded Mergansers—a first sighting—two males and three females. They swim along the shoreline and past some geese and Mallards, possibly looking to snag some tasty amphipods exposed by the dabblers as they tug on the aqua-plants below.
I look upriver toward the Aiken Street bridge and see the Mute Swans through the piers, three this time. I head in that direction to get a closer look.
When I reach the riffles by the Lawrence Mills, I notice a group of about 20 Mallards diving frenetically, one after another. They're behaving like the diving ducks, fully submerging themselves and coming back up several seconds later. It's an undulating mass of ducks, a strange sight.
It's unclear at first what the Mallards are up to. But they're obviously enjoying themselves—lots of splashing and vocalizing—probably a combination of foraging for aquatic vegetation and ritual bathing. One comes up with a small twig in its beak, another has a bill full of plant bits. Most come up with nothing and submerge themselves again in a frolicking frenzy.
I continue on my way towards the bridge and find the male has joined the mother and her one offspring. They're a tight group, the adults swimming side by side, nuzzling against each other.
I return later in the day to find yet another adult Mute Swan on the opposite side of the bridge, dabbling for aquatic vegetation. The swans can see each other through two stone piers that support the bridge. But there's no sign of any tension.
Not far from the Mute Swan trio, the Buffleheads are still in the Riverbend, frenetically foraging with their Common Goldeneye tagalongs.
And further downstream, members of the 50-strong goldeneye tribe drift in a long line formation as they continue to patrol their newly established territory.
Still absent from last year’s observations are the Common Mergansers, Ring-necked Ducks, and Scaups. Otherwise, most are already represented: Common Goldeneyes, Buffleheads, Hooded Mergansers, Mute Swans, Canada Geese, Mallards, American Black Ducks, and, of course, the ever present gulls.
And the stories continue to unfold as sounds of quacks and honks fill the air.