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. I had eight minutes and 24 seconds with this handsome diving duck according to the EXIF information contained in my photos of this bird.
Drake Hooded Merganser in evening light – Nikon D500, f6.3, 1/640, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
I spent yesterday backing up images that I took in 2019 because one of the hard drives the files from that year were on was failing. I bought a new drive yesterday morning and spent the day moving my archived images. These Hooded Merganser files were among those photos. Seeing them again brought back some nice memories.
Hooded Mergansers are small diving mergansers I only see here in northern Utah during their nonbreeding season.
Drake Hooded Merganser up close – Nikon D500, f6.3, 1/800, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
Typically, I don’t have Hooded Mergansers in my viewfinder as often as I do the two other species of mergansers found in Northern Utah. I see Common and Red-breasted Mergansers more frequently.
I am always thrilled to have these mergansers in my viewfinder. Having a drake Hooded Merganser in view in his finest breeding plumage was and is a joy for me.
This drake’s chestnut colored flanks, yellow eyes, and black and white crest seemed to glow in the warm evening light.
Drake Hooded Merganser splashing after landing – Nikon D500, f6.3, 1/640, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
Even though I only had a little over eight minutes with this Hooded Merganser, I made the best of the time I had with him and took several hundred photos of him moving around my local pond.
I keep hoping to find more of these mergansers close to home. Fingers crossed!
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Hooded Merganser photos plus facts and information about this species.
These pics seem like a duck carvers dream. What wonderful images to work with. The detail and colors are simply extraordinary. Thanks Mia.
Great photos, I wish we could see more mergansers in our area.
Fingers crossed indeed.
I am glad that you were able to transfer your files before disaster happened.
These are some quite handsome birds I love their two toned heads and the brown on their wings is lovely but unexpected.