Sunday Sketches

One day I was driving to our favorite walking spot and I saw my friends on the bridge at Woodard Bay in Olympia, Washington, watching and taking photos of what?

Stopping I learned that the Mama Mergansers will carry her babies on her back to move them. Later when I got home Barry sent me an e-mail with photos! Barry Troutman is not only a great photographer but also a wildlife specialist who shares his knowledge about what you are looking at when you are with him. Even in his e-mails!

"Here are some of the birds we were watching today down by the bridge. The Mergansers nest upstream, then move downstream with their broods within a day of hatching. Once they head out, they don't return, but spend their early days growing up out in Chapman Bay or outer Woodard Bay beyond the trestle."

The photo is dated July 1st, but it has taken me this long to capture Mama and her ducklings in my sketchbook.