{"id":109742,"date":"2023-01-20T05:29:40","date_gmt":"2023-01-20T12:29:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=109742"},"modified":"2024-01-15T04:08:01","modified_gmt":"2024-01-15T11:08:01","slug":"urban-drake-common-merganser-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/01\/20\/urban-drake-common-merganser-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"Urban Drake Common Merganser Photos"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

\"UrbanUrban drake Common Merganser \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I had beautiful afternoon light, a great subject up close, the reflections on the water were wonderful, and all of my images of this bird turned out well. But I looked at the drake Common Merganser photos at home and never processed any of the images until today.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"DrakeDrake Common Merganser on a neighborhood pond \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Simply because the green iridescence of this drake’s head in his finest breeding plumage wasn’t blatantly obvious. That green iridescence can be challenging to capture when the light isn’t at a precise angle. The photos I took two years ago of this drake barely showed any of that green at all.<\/p>\n

\"CommonCommon Merganser drake about to dive \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

So my images of this drake Common Merganser have resided in my archives without being touched. Just stored away, for what?<\/p>\n

Today I decided that is more than just a bit nit-picky of me. I quite often see Common Merganser drakes where their greenish head isn’t flat out noticeable in the field. This is the way they look when it doesn’t. I have<\/em> to get over some of my own harshest standards. I need to get over myself.<\/p>\n

Usually I see Common Mergansers<\/span><\/a> at my local ponds at this time of the year and have my best opportunities to photograph them. Regretfully, this winter I haven’t had a single Common Merganser in my viewfinder. I hope that changes soon because it won’t be long before they migrate to their breeding grounds.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":109733,"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":[27,476,709,26],"tags":[4053,976,4478,4753,4483,1129,126,4062,4705,4704,4239,10879,1984,3973,8018,30,3996,2063,373],"class_list":["post-109742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-common-mergansers","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-common-merganser","tag-dive","tag-diving-ducks","tag-drake","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-male","tag-merganser","tag-mergansers","tag-mergus-merganser","tag-neighborhood","tag-pond","tag-salt-lake-county","tag-urban","tag-utah-2","tag-water","tag-waterfowl","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/common-merganser-drake-urban-mia-mcpherson-0156.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-sy2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":118413,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/21\/drake-hooded-merganser-memory\/","url_meta":{"origin":109742,"position":0},"title":"Drake Hooded Merganser 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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/hooded-merganser-drake-mia-mcpherson-5141.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":119774,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/01\/17\/urban-hooded-merganser-drake\/","url_meta":{"origin":109742,"position":1},"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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/hooded-merganser-drake-urban-mia-mcpherson-2781.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/hooded-merganser-drake-urban-mia-mcpherson-2781.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":119702,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/01\/15\/common-mergansers-and-remote-controlled-harassment\/","url_meta":{"origin":109742,"position":2},"title":"Common Mergansers And Remote Controlled Harassment","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 15, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Two immature Common Mergansers in flight, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/common-merganser-immature-flight-mia-mcpherson-8992.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/common-merganser-immature-flight-mia-mcpherson-8992.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/common-merganser-immature-flight-mia-mcpherson-8992.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/common-merganser-immature-flight-mia-mcpherson-8992.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":50520,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/01\/06\/drake-common-merganser-in-flight-in-northern-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":109742,"position":3},"title":"Drake Common Merganser In Flight In Northern Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 6, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the drake Common Mergansers I saw yesterday flew over the pond and past me close enough for me to take two photos of it up close in the late evening light.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake Common Merganser in flight in evening light, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-drake-flight-mia-mcpherson-1851.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-drake-flight-mia-mcpherson-1851.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-drake-flight-mia-mcpherson-1851.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-drake-flight-mia-mcpherson-1851.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":110339,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/02\/17\/dapper-drake-common-merganser-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":109742,"position":4},"title":"Dapper Drake Common Merganser At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 17, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","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":"Bathing Common Merganser drake, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/common-merganser-winter-ice-drake-mia-mcpherson-3751.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/common-merganser-winter-ice-drake-mia-mcpherson-3751.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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