Water Ouzel Raises Brood Under Difficulties
Water Ouzel Raises Brood under Difficulties
Late in April, 1940, the nest of a Water Ouzel (cinclus mexicanus) was noted in the process of construction a short distance above the surface of the Merced River on a small ledge on one of the piers of Sentinel Bridge in Yosemite Valley, California. The location of this nest was peculiar in that it was on a section of the Merced River which is deep and very calm. When the nest was first noticed, several of the observers in the valley remarked on the possibility that it might be washed off the pier in the period of high water which was sure to come when the snows began to melt.
In May, when the Merced River began rising every evening, I went to see how the nest was faring and at 9:30 p.m. on May 10 found that it was completely covered by the river. On May 13, also at 9:30 p.m., the nest was about half covered by the water. As the highest point of the water usually occurs about 11:00 p.m., it seems probable that the nest was completely covered by the water after I had left on May 13. Despite these two soakings, and there probably were more, the female ouzel managed to brood the eggs successfully and the four young birds were seen by several people on the day that they left the nest. Presumably there was an air pocket in or about the nest during periods of submergence.
Russell K. Grater
Oakland, California, October 31, 1940
