Last night I received a report from a group that annually spends a weekend in the spring, canoeing sections of Little Beaver Creek in Columbiana County. Little Beaver Creek and its tributaries is a designated Wild and Scenic River, adjacent to the state of Pennsylvania, just north of the Ohio River and West Virginia, and home to Ohio's first documented nesting Common Mergansers. Jim Dolan first photographed a family unit in May 2006; adults had been seen lingering into late spring in previous years.  Last year family groups were recorded at no less than seven locations. This past weekend while paddling the extremely low waters, the number of possible family units seen had increased to around a dozen; from what appeared to be mated pairs, to a family with thirteen youngsters near the confluence of the North and West Forks. Most of the pristine, secluded sections of Little Beaver Creek are accessible only by canoe or kayak, and only when water levels permit. Possible viewing of the Common Mergansers can be achieved at several bridge locations and lookouts. Recommended bridge sites are: SR7 near Beaver Creek Meadows Golf Course, the metal truss bridge on Echo Dell Road in Beaver Creek State Park, the bridge on Sprucevale Road in the Sprucevale Unit of Beaver Creek State Park, and the bridge on SR170 in the town of Fredericktown. Lookouts to scope from are: the Sprucevale Lookout on Sprucevale Road, and the lookout on Old Fredericktown Road, both giving spectacular views of the creek. For a very informative article on the placing of nest boxes for the Common Mergansers, see the 2012 Winter Edtion of the Wild Ohio magazine. Another interesting, out of the ordinary observation, by the creek explorers, was encountering a Common Loon in breeding plumage, yodeling on a remote stretch of The North Fork on Saturday. How wild is that!
 
Bob Lane / Damascus~Mahoning County                                       
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