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At 7 in the morning on Thursday, June 4, my rafting partner was waiting for coffee water to boil while standing 25 feet from the water's edge at Trail Camp on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. He observed a female duck fly down to the water from a large Ponderosa Pine tree which was about 15 feet from the river. In quick succession, 4 fledgling ducks dropped to the rocks from above and stumbled and bumbled their way to the water through the rocks and vegetation. Once all were in the water, the mother took them all downstream. All of the birds seemed to be coming from just above a large branch about 25-30 feet up.
Unfortunately, my partner is not a birder, and could not identify the mother duck. We did see several broods of Common Mergansers during our week on the river, and he could at least say that the family he saw was definitely NOT Common Mergansers.
I can identify the exact tree, and have pictures of the tree if it would be helpful. I was hoping that they might be Harlequin Ducks, but I understand they tend to nest on the ground. Wood ducks possibly, but I understand they incubate much larger clutches of eggs...