Two Common Mergansers running to lift off in golden light, Salt Lake County, UtahTwo Common Mergansers running to lift off in golden light – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

The last couple of days have been rather hectic for me and my hope is that things will settle down and that I will be back out in the field most mornings. Today is the coldest day of autumn so far in the valley and I anticipate that the colder temps will bring in more winter birds. Two days ago when I was out I saw my first of the year American Tree Sparrows at Farmington Bay WMA and that delighted me even though I wasn’t able to take any photos of them. Seeing the tree sparrows near the marsh reminded me that before long the Common Mergansers will make their appearance here in the valley. I checked on eBird this morning and see that some Common Mergansers are being sighted nearby, some were even seen on East Canyon Reservoir a few days ago which isn’t that far away from where I live as birds fly.

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. Last winter I had many opportunities with this species and took advantage of that every chance I could.  The light is better on the ponds in the afternoon and evening for bird photography and just before the sun sets the golden light can be spectacular.

I love being able to get close to the Common Mergansers because of the fine details I can show in my photos but there are times when I am glad that they are further away from me and those times include landings and lift offs because the distance reduces the chances that I will clip important parts of the birds during the fast and sometimes unpredictable action.

In the photo above I was happy to have two of the immature Common Mergansers running to lift off while an adult female was stationary on the water in front of them.

Note: The adult female only has one, solid white spot on her chin and the white chin spots of immature Common Mergansers are divided by a streak of cinnamon colored feathers in the midst of the white feathers which can be better seen in the photo below.

Common Mergansers running across the water, Salt Lake County, UtahCommon Mergansers running across the water – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

This photo shows the same two immature Common Mergansers after they had passed the stationary female on the water. These mergansers move very quickly when they are running to take off and at times they are very challenging for me to track with my long lens but I believe the struggle is worth it when I can get action photos like these especially in such sweet, golden light.

Life is good.

Mia

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