Common Mergansers

Common Mergansers are long-bodied diving ducks with long, thin reddish serrated bills, orange feet and legs and dark eyes. The males have greenish, black heads, white bodies and black backs in breeding plumage. Females have gray bodies with cinnamon colored heads with shaggy crests

Immature Common Merganser Shaking Off

By |2024-03-13T07:47:51-06:00March 13th, 2024|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Common Mergansers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Just a simple photo of an immature Common Merganser today. I took this image of the merganser on the Bear River almost two years ago on a bright, sunny morning.

Common Mergansers And Remote Controlled Harassment

By |2024-01-15T05:09:41-07:00January 15th, 2024|Categories: Birds, Common Mergansers, Harassment, Miscellaneous, Salt Lake County, Utah, Wildlife Ethics|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I photographed these Common Mergansers at my local pond three years ago today. I will explain why I only had a few minutes with the mergansers at my local pond.

Common Merganser Portrait With Water Droplets

By |2023-05-31T09:32:08-06:00May 31st, 2023|Categories: Birds, Common Mergansers, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

A simple portrait of a Common Merganser, featuring water droplets and a bow wave, is what I wanted to share this morning. The photo was taken at my local pond.

Hen Common Merganser At Bear River MBR

By |2023-03-01T08:05:41-07:00March 1st, 2023|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Common Mergansers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Last month I photographed this hen Common Merganser in a small spot of open water next to an ice shelf at Bear River MBR. It was a very cold morning.

Dapper Drake Common Merganser At Bear River MBR

By |2023-02-18T03:31:36-07:00February 17th, 2023|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Common Mergansers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Today I am sharing photos of a dapper drake Common Merganser in his finest breeding plumage that I took four mornings ago at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.

Great Goldeneye-Merganser Showdown: Who Won the Shad?

By |2023-02-15T03:03:56-07:00February 15th, 2023|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Common Goldeneyes, Common Mergansers, Great Blue Herons, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

On my last trip to Bear River MBR I saw and photographed a Goldeneye-Merganser showdown where the prize that was being fought over was a shiny shad.

Urban Drake Common Merganser Photos

By |2024-01-15T04:08:01-07:00January 20th, 2023|Categories: Birds, Common Mergansers, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I can be way too picky when it comes to sharing my images. Today I'll explain why with these urban drake Common Merganser photos taken at my local pond.

First Winter Common Merganser On The Bear River

By |2022-01-31T13:32:40-07:00January 31st, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Common Mergansers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

On my last two trips up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I've stopped long enough to photograph a first winter Common Merganser on the Bear River.

Christmas Day Bird Photos Through the Years

By |2021-12-25T06:26:22-07:00December 25th, 2021|Categories: Bald Eagles, Birds, Common Mergansers, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Great Blue Herons, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

These are all birds I have photographed on Christmas Day through the years and all of them were photographed at Farmington Bay WMA.

Great Egret, Mallards and Hooded and Common Mergansers On The Bear River

By |2021-12-23T05:56:39-07:00December 23rd, 2021|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Common Mergansers, Great Egrets, Hooded Mergansers, Mallards, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The Great Egret landed where I had views of Hooded and Common Mergansers and three Mallards resting on the ice on the Bear River.

World Wetlands Day 2021

By |2024-03-13T04:38:39-06:00February 2nd, 2021|Categories: American Bitterns, American Coots, Bald Eagles, Barn Owls, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Black-crowned Night Herons, Blue-winged Teals, Brewer's Blackbirds, Centennial Valley, Cinnamon Teals, Common Checkered-Skippers, Common Mergansers, Conservation, Eight-spotted Skimmers, Environment, Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Greater Scaups, Green-winged Teals, Halloween Pennants, Hooded Mergansers, Least Sandpipers, Lesser Scaups, Long-tailed Weasels, Marsh Wrens, Montana, Moose, Muskrats, Northern Harriers, Northern Pintails, Northern Shovelers, Pectoral Sandpipers, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Red-breasted Mergansers, Red-winged Blackbirds, Reddish Egrets, Redheads, Ruddy Ducks, Rusty Blackbirds, Sandhill Cranes, Scarlet Skimmers, Snowy Egrets, Spotted Sandpipers, Tricolored Herons, Trumpeter Swans, Tundra Swans, Utah, Variegated Meadowhawk, White-faced Ibises, Wildflowers, Wilson's Phalaropes, Yellow-crowned Night Herons, Yellow-headed Blackbirds|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

February 2nd is World Wetlands Day to raise global awareness about the critical role of wetlands for people, wildlife and our planet.

Winter Common Mergansers

By |2024-03-13T06:09:45-06:00January 16th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Common Mergansers, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday and the day before I was able to observe and photograph winter Common Mergansers at my local pond on both sunny afternoons.

Photographing Winter Birds

By |2024-03-13T06:24:03-06:00January 15th, 2021|Categories: American Coots, Bald Eagles, Birds, Black-crowned Night Herons, Canvasbacks, Common Goldeneyes, Common Mergansers, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Great-tailed Grackles, Mallards, Pied-billed Grebes, Redheads, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I spent a couple of hours yesterday photographing winter birds at Farmington Bay WMA and closer to home in the morning and afternoon.

First Winter Common Mergansers In Flight

By |2024-03-13T06:27:38-06:00December 3rd, 2020|Categories: Birds, Common Mergansers, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Some winters here in the Salt Lake Valley I see quite a lot Common Mergansers while in other years I only see a few. I'm hoping that this winter I will see plenty of these beautiful, sleek diving ducks.

Common Merganser With A First Winter Common Goldeneye Drake

By |2024-03-13T06:33:04-06:00January 26th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Common Goldeneyes, Common Mergansers, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I found it interesting to see a first winter drake Common Goldeneye swimming with a first winter Common Merganser and decided to photograph them.

Back View Of A Drake Common Merganser In Salt Lake County

By |2024-03-13T06:56:14-06:00December 9th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Common Mergansers, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I took this photo two winters ago on the local pond and I liked it because even though the view of the drake Common Merganser was taken of its back the merganser turned his head and gave me a great view of his eye.

Common Mergansers Lifting Off In Sweet Golden Light

By |2024-03-13T07:05:08-06:00November 8th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Common Mergansers, Salt Lake County, Swans, Ducks and Geese, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I'm fortunate that I live near two ponds here in Salt Lake City where I can find Common Mergansers at this time of the year and I appreciate being able to photograph them so close to home.

Drake Common Merganser In Flight In Northern Utah

By |2024-03-13T06:57:48-06:00January 6th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Common Mergansers, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

One of the drake Common Mergansers I saw yesterday flew over the pond and past me close enough for me to take two photos of it up close in the late evening light.

Common Mergansers Landing & Lifting Off

By |2024-03-13T07:36:09-06:00December 28th, 2017|Categories: Common Mergansers, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I'm over the moon that I was able to photograph these Common Mergansers landing and lifting off from the pond yesterday and I am pleased with the photos I took.

I Spotted My First of Season Common Merganser

By |2024-03-13T07:41:27-06:00November 24th, 2017|Categories: Birds, Common Mergansers, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

While at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge two days ago I spotted my first of the season Common Merganser from the auto tour route.

Winter Common Mergansers – A Visual Break From The Summer Heat

By |2024-03-13T07:50:46-06:00August 30th, 2017|Categories: Birds, Common Mergansers, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Back in February there was still snow on the ground, ice on the water and Common Mergansers were at Farmington Bay WMA and some were sporting their breeding plumage.

Photographing Common Mergansers at Farmington Bay

By |2024-03-13T08:50:10-06:00February 2nd, 2017|Categories: Birds, Common Mergansers, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I spent time photographing a few Rough-legged Hawks but my personal choice for birds of the day were the Common Mergansers I observed and photographed.

Common Merganser hunting close up in Salt Lake County, Utah

By |2024-03-13T08:04:19-06:00December 20th, 2016|Categories: Birds, Common Mergansers, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Two days ago I was surprised by being able to photograph a Common Merganser hunting close to the shoreline of a nearby pond in Salt Lake County.

Bathing Common Merganser at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

By |2024-03-13T09:00:00-06:00February 10th, 2016|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Common Mergansers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

There isn't much open water right now but in a few places where it is open it attracts waterfowl including this bathing Common Merganser male in breeding plumage.

A few winter birds at Farmington Bay and flapping wings

By |2024-03-13T09:38:46-06:00January 19th, 2015|Categories: Birds, Common Mergansers, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Great Blue Herons, Northern Harriers, Pied-billed Grebes, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Maybe when the weather clears tomorrow I'll be able to get back out Farmington Bay to photograph more birds.

First winter male Common Merganser

By |2024-03-13T10:28:50-06:00January 27th, 2014|Categories: Birds, Common Mergansers, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Pied-billed Grebes, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday morning I spotted a lone Common Merganser at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area nearly hidden in some phragmites and when we came around the corner the bird seemed to have disappeared but after a bit it came out from its hiding spot and gave us quite a show.

Images of Christmas Past – Happy Holidays

By |2024-03-13T09:45:23-06:00December 25th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Australia, Bald Eagles, Birds, Burnie, Common Mergansers, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Northern Harriers, Roseate Spoonbills, Tasmania|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday I took a stroll down memory lane, actually I looked for images I have taken either on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day in my files but in a way that is taking a stroll down memory lane.

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