Immature Common Merganser Shaking Off
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.
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.
Thanks to Shane Smith, neighbor, friend, and budding bird photographer, I photographed this drake Hooded Merganser two days ago at one of our local ponds.
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.
Once upon a chilly December evening, I had a blast photographing a stunning drake Hooded Merganser in gorgeous light at an urban pond close to home.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A few days ago I had the opportunity to photograph this first winter Hooded Merganser at an urban pond that isn't far from where I live after a heavy snow.
Two days ago at one of my local ponds I was able to take only a few photos of a Hooded Merganser before it disappeared from my line of sight.
Earlier this month I stopped to take photos of a drake Hooded Merganser floating on the Bear River before the sun lit up that part of the refuge.
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.
These are all birds I have photographed on Christmas Day through the years and all of them were photographed at Farmington Bay WMA.
The Great Egret landed where I had views of Hooded and Common Mergansers and three Mallards resting on the ice on the Bear River.
It was early in the morning when I photographed this immature Common Merganser in a morning mist almost five years ago at my local pond.
I spotted a single female Hooded Merganser on the Bear River two days ago and photographed her as she ran on top of the water to lift off.
This morning I am sharing a simple image of a Hooded Merganser I found two days ago on a pond at Farmington Bay WMA that had autumn colors reflected on the water.
Yesterday and the day before I was able to observe and photograph winter Common Mergansers at my local pond on both sunny afternoons.
I spent a couple of hours yesterday photographing winter birds at Farmington Bay WMA and closer to home in the morning and afternoon.
All three of the Hooded Mergansers were close to me because there was a shelf of ice that prevented them from swimming out into the middle of the pond.
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.
When the weather turns colder, the clouds gather, and the snow falls I still have plenty of birds to photograph here in northern Utah.
I found it interesting to see a first winter drake Common Goldeneye swimming with a first winter Common Merganser and decided to photograph them.
In December I had eight minutes and twenty-four seconds to photograph this Hooded Merganser drake and every time I have gone to the local pond after that I have looked for him to be there again.
Yesterday started off dreary but later in the afternoon I was able to get out in the field and I had a blast taking photos of a spiffy drake Hooded Merganser for a little while.
Sometimes I wonder how birds get their names, especially the birds with "Common" in their names such as Common Mergansers.
At first I thought the single Red-breasted Merganser was a female until I noticed the white patches of feathers behind its neck on its sides and then I realized that the merganser was a male because females do not typically have those white patches.
The birds I photographed the most yesterday were a pair of Hooded Mergansers that were actively foraging for prey most of the time I had them in my viewfinder.
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.
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.