{"id":108836,"date":"2022-12-19T05:47:22","date_gmt":"2022-12-19T12:47:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=108836"},"modified":"2022-12-19T05:52:16","modified_gmt":"2022-12-19T12:52:16","slug":"first-winter-hooded-merganser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/12\/19\/first-winter-hooded-merganser\/","title":{"rendered":"First Winter Hooded Merganser"},"content":{"rendered":"

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. I had heard that there was a female Hoodie at the pond and had taken some long distance images of it a while back. I hadn’t even looked at those files because the bird was so far away.<\/p>\n

\"FirstFirst winter Hooded Merganser preening \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

After taking my photos of the Hooded Merganser two days ago and looking closer at this duck I would say that this is a first winter bird. I am not prepared to say whether it is a male or female. Superficially it does appear to be a female but using “just” appearances in first winter birds can be fraught with pitfalls.<\/p>\n

This Hooded Merganser has orange colored eyes. In an adult female Hooded Merganser I would expect them to be more brown to brownish olive. The chin of this Hooded Merganser would also show more white if it were an adult female and it is relatively buff brown.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult female Hooded Merganser and funky reflection \u2013 Nikon D500, f9, 1\/640, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This photo of an adult female Hooded Merganser was taken at Farmington Bay on Glover Pond two Decembers ago and I am sharing it for visual comparison. Note her brownish eye, her white chin, and also how much yellow there is in her bill.<\/p>\n

\"FirstFirst winter Hooded Merganser on an urban pond \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This is a semi-profile view of the Hooded Merganser<\/span><\/a> that I photographed two days ago. The bill of this merganser is primarily dark with only a little yellow on the bottom portion.<\/p>\n

I’m hoping this Hooded Merganser sticks around long enough for me to see some changes in the bird’s plumage and eye color. Unless that occurs, I’m not not confident in my ability to confirm the gender of this individual merganser. Someone with more experience, for instance bird molt expert Peter Pyle<\/span><\/a>, could probably come up with a conclusion almost instantaneously. I’m not that much of an expert on this species and won’t pretend to be. That would be dishonest.<\/p>\n

I have photographed first winter male Hooded Mergansers<\/span><\/a> previously at Farmington Bay WMA but they were further along in their molts than this bird is. It was far easier to determine their gender. This particular bird may have come from a later brood although I can’t be certain of that.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Hooded Merganser photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":108828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1022,697,6932,709,26],"tags":[4004,970,4753,1129,126,4620,4070,2450,715,4359,6934,4064,6933,4094,4705,1984,4019,2504,8018,30,3996,2063,4095],"class_list":["post-108836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-hooded-mergansers","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-diving-ducks","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-fall","tag-female","tag-first-winter","tag-glover-pond","tag-hen","tag-hooded-merganser","tag-ice","tag-lophodytes-cucullatus","tag-marsh","tag-merganser","tag-pond","tag-preening-2","tag-reflection","tag-urban","tag-utah-2","tag-water","tag-waterfowl","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/hooded-merganser-pond-mia-mcpherson-6146.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-sjq","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":109434,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/01\/08\/first-winter-hooded-merganser-at-an-urban-pond\/","url_meta":{"origin":108836,"position":0},"title":"First Winter Hooded Merganser At An Urban Pond","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 8, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"First winter Hooded Merganser after a dive, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/hooded-merganser-first-winter-mia-mcpherson-7530.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/hooded-merganser-first-winter-mia-mcpherson-7530.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Merganser Lifting Off From The Bear River","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 10, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Hooded Merganser lifting off from the Bear River, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, 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Opportunity","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Hooded Merganser drake swimming by, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/hooded-merganser-drake-swimming-by-mia-mcpherson-5015.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/hooded-merganser-drake-swimming-by-mia-mcpherson-5015.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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