You’re fishing on a local stream and you hear a loud cackling call. Swooping low and then quickly darting upward lands a medium-sized blue bird on an overhanging limb. The bird has what appears to be a bill too big for it size (Jimmy Durante-like.) You’ve just seen a belted kingfisher.

Kingfishers are residents in the Times News circulation area and live near lakes, ponds and streams. Their chief food is minnows/small fish. They generally fly from their perch and dive bill-first into the water to grab the fish. Sometimes they hover directly above the surfaces and then make their dive. These birds sometimes remain here through the winter (amount of unfrozen water appears to be the key factor) but most migrate a bit farther to our south to wait out the winter months.

They nest in burrows in stream banks, which they excavate and then bring food to the growing youngsters. When the young mature, they leave the nest tunnel and wait on nearby limbs waiting for the parents to feed them and begin learning how to catch their own. The parent birds drop nearly dead minnows in the water and encourage the hungry youngsters to dive for them. Eventually they learn the feeding method and are “on their own.”

The following birds feed differently than the kingfisher. They swim after their prey. The first “duck” that I’ll highlight is the common merganser. This is about the southern limit of their breeding range, and I’ve seen adults here in June so I believe they were nesting close by. The female common “merg” was seen on Pohopoco Creek this past June.

Common mergansers and common loons are both capable of outmaneuvering the fish they pursue by diving from the water surface and grabbing them with their modified bills. They have teeth like projections to help grip slippery fish. Both of these species have their legs positioned much farther back on their bodies and they struggle to walk on land. However, they are adapted to be exceptional swimmers.

Common mergansers nest in tree cavities up to 15 to 20 feet high. Like wood ducks, they coax the downy young to jump from the cavity to the stream bank below. They seldom get injured. I’ve recorded these mergansers on Lizard, Mahoning, and Pohopoco creeks, the Lehigh River, and Beltzville and Mauch Chunk reservoirs. Look for them flying rapidly, close to the water displaying bright white wing patches.

Common loons don’t nest in our area, but some spend the entire winter months cruising and feeding in our local lakes. If they freeze over, the loons travel farther south. Most loons nest in New England and Canada. They only lay two eggs, but after hatching they are extremely protective of the young. The young for quite a few weeks will ride on the female’s back. This keeps them away from northern pike or snapping turtles who would enjoy young ”ducks” for dinner. Those who have fished some Canadian lakes have probably heard the loons’ yodels. If you ventured out early on a foggy morning and heard this “yodel” it is quite unforgettable.

They can be heard completely across a lake. This winter and late fall, and again in spring, travel to Beltzville and scan the water surface. You may see a duck nearly submerged in water, pointy black bill, and one that submerges sometimes for 20 seconds at a time chasing its food. Loons, and sometimes mergansers, have been found on highways on rainy nights. Apparently they mistook the shiny road as water surface. They are basically helpless and need to be taken to a lake where they can then run across the water’s surface in order to take flight.

Test your Knowledge: Which of these mustelids (short-legged, furred carnivores) is found in Carbon and Schuylkill counties? A. long tailed weasel, B. mink, C. otter, D. all of these.

Last Week’s trivia answer: Even though the screech owl is small and can nest in 3-inch cavity openings, the saw whet owl is still the smallest Pennsylvania owl.

Contact Barry Reed at breed71@gmail.com.