{"id":109434,"date":"2023-01-08T04:21:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-08T11:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=109434"},"modified":"2023-01-08T04:21:00","modified_gmt":"2023-01-08T11:21:00","slug":"first-winter-hooded-merganser-at-an-urban-pond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/01\/08\/first-winter-hooded-merganser-at-an-urban-pond\/","title":{"rendered":"First Winter Hooded Merganser At An Urban Pond"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few days ago I had the opportunity to photograph this first winter Hooded Merganser<\/span><\/a> at an urban pond that isn’t far from where I live after a heavy snow. I’ve been seeing this particular merganser since the middle of December.<\/p>\n

\"FirstFirst winter Hooded Merganser after a dive \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I can see more dark feathers on the forehead of this Hooded Merganser than I had previously but other than that it appears much the same as it did when I first saw it<\/span><\/a>. It is as if its molt has stalled.<\/p>\n

This Hooded Merganser is skittish and stays fairly far away from me whenever I see it even though this pond is fairly small. When I saw it is a few days ago the merganser was busy foraging for food. In this image it had just resurfaced from a dive.<\/p>\n

I am hoping that the merganser sticks around for a while longer and that I will have an opportunity to photograph it from a closer perspective.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":109432,"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":[27,6932,709,26],"tags":[4478,4753,1129,126,2450,6934,6933,4705,4704,1984,8018,3996,2063,373],"class_list":["post-109434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-hooded-mergansers","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-dive","tag-diving-ducks","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-first-winter","tag-hooded-merganser","tag-lophodytes-cucullatus","tag-merganser","tag-mergansers","tag-pond","tag-urban","tag-water","tag-waterfowl","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/hooded-merganser-first-winter-mia-mcpherson-7530.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-st4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":119774,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/01\/17\/urban-hooded-merganser-drake\/","url_meta":{"origin":109434,"position":0},"title":"Urban Hooded Merganser Drake","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 17, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Urban drake Hooded Merganser, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/hooded-merganser-drake-urban-mia-mcpherson-2781.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-urban-mia-mcpherson-2781.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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"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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/hooded-merganser-drake-swimming-by-mia-mcpherson-5015.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/hooded-merganser-drake-swimming-by-mia-mcpherson-5015.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Memory","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 21, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake Hooded Merganser splashing after landing, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/hooded-merganser-drake-mia-mcpherson-5141.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/hooded-merganser-drake-mia-mcpherson-5141.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/hooded-merganser-drake-mia-mcpherson-5141.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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