Drake Common Merganser In Flight In Northern Utah

Drake Common Merganser in flight in evening light – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

I don’t see Common Mergansers here in northern Utah much during their breeding season but I do see them quite often from late fall, through the winter and into late spring. I see them during the summer and early fall when I visit Montana in alpine lakes.

Last evening I saw a few Common Mergansers at the local pond including drakes in breeding plumage, one of the drakes caught a large fish and swallowed it but I wasn’t able to obtain high quality images of that action because the bird was so far away. There were also some drake mergansers that flew in over the pond but didn’t actually land, they zoomed in and out very quickly.

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. I wish that the light had been strong enough to pick up the green iridescence of his head more than it shows in my photo but I was happy to get this image of him flying by because I have found these birds are very challenging to track & photograph in flight. The clouds behind the bird were starting to glow pink from the setting sun when I photographed it.

I’m always happy to see these saw-billed ducks and even more delighted when I can take photos of them in flight.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to see more of  my Common Merganser photos plus facts and information about this species.