{"id":110339,"date":"2023-02-17T02:53:49","date_gmt":"2023-02-17T09:53:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=110339"},"modified":"2023-02-18T03:31:36","modified_gmt":"2023-02-18T10:31:36","slug":"dapper-drake-common-merganser-at-bear-river-mbr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/02\/17\/dapper-drake-common-merganser-at-bear-river-mbr\/","title":{"rendered":"Dapper Drake Common Merganser At Bear River MBR"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"BathingBathing Common Merganser drake \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I was delighted to see the male Common Merganser bathing in the ice cold water. Unfortunately another merganser swam into view and blocked what could have been my best photos of this drake. These mergansers really splash around when they are bathing. Water was flying everywhere.<\/p>\n

The water dripping from the bill of this striking diving duck was appealing to me.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Common Merganser at Bear River MBR \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I hoped to photograph this male Common Merganser catching a fish. That didn’t happen but it didn’t dampen the excitement I felt by having him in my viewfinder. These long, sleek diving ducks are stunning in their breeding plumage and I am always happy to see them in the winter.<\/p>\n

I don’t see this species during their breeding season. In fact, I only see them in the coldest months of the year in northern Utah.<\/p>\n

\"DrakeDrake Common Merganser at Bear River MBR \u2013 Nikon D500, f16, 1\/500, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Since I had this drake Common Merganser in my viewfinder I took quite a few images of him. I hope that I will see more of these saw-billed, diving ducks before winter is over and spring arrives.<\/p>\n

It was a joy to have this drake, several other drakes, plus some female Common Mergansers in my viewfinder. I hope to share the female mergansers at a later date.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":110330,"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":[124,27,1148,476,26],"tags":[4004,4373,4053,976,4753,4483,4064,4062,4094,4705,4704,4239,3996,4095,373],"class_list":["post-110339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-common-mergansers","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-bathing","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-common-merganser","tag-diving-ducks","tag-drake","tag-ice","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-merganser","tag-mergansers","tag-mergus-merganser","tag-water","tag-wetlands","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/common-merganser-winter-ice-drake-mia-mcpherson-3751.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-sHF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":35466,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/02\/10\/a-bathing-common-merganser-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":110339,"position":0},"title":"Bathing Common Merganser at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"There isn't much open water right now but in a few places where it is open it attracts waterfowl including this bathing Common Merganser male in breeding plumage.","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 male in breeding plumage at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in northern Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-male-bathing-mia-mcpherson-1611.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-male-bathing-mia-mcpherson-1611.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-male-bathing-mia-mcpherson-1611.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-male-bathing-mia-mcpherson-1611.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100150,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/02\/22\/drake-hooded-merganser-on-the-bear-river\/","url_meta":{"origin":110339,"position":1},"title":"Drake Hooded Merganser On The Bear River","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 22, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier this month I stopped to take photos of a drake Hooded Merganser floating on the Bear River before the sun lit up that part of the 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":"Low light drake Hooded Merganser on the Bear River, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/hooded-merganser-drake-on-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-9437.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/hooded-merganser-drake-on-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-9437.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":"Common Merganser drake in nonbreeding plumage Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-mia-mcpherson-7794.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-mia-mcpherson-7794.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-mia-mcpherson-7794.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-mia-mcpherson-7794.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Today I'll explain why with these urban drake Common Merganser photos taken at my local pond.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Common Merganser drake about to dive, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/common-merganser-drake-urban-mia-mcpherson-0156.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/common-merganser-drake-urban-mia-mcpherson-0156.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/common-merganser-drake-urban-mia-mcpherson-0156.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/common-merganser-drake-urban-mia-mcpherson-0156.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":110602,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/01\/hen-common-merganser-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":110339,"position":4},"title":"Hen Common Merganser At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 1, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Last month I photographed this hen Common Merganser in a small spot of open water next to an ice shelf at Bear River MBR. It was a very cold morning.","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":"Hen Common Merganser flapping her wings next to an ice shelf, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/common-merganser-winter-ice-hen-mia-mcpherson-3163.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/common-merganser-winter-ice-hen-mia-mcpherson-3163.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/common-merganser-winter-ice-hen-mia-mcpherson-3163.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/common-merganser-winter-ice-hen-mia-mcpherson-3163.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":110264,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/02\/15\/great-goldeneye-merganser-showdown-who-won-the-shad\/","url_meta":{"origin":110339,"position":5},"title":"Great Goldeneye-Merganser Showdown: Who Won the Shad?","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 15, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"On my last trip to Bear River MBR I saw and photographed a Goldeneye-Merganser showdown where the prize that was being fought over was a shiny shad.","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":"Common Merganser chasing a Common Goldeneye with a shad, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/common-goldeneye-drake-common-merganser-female-prey-mia-mcpherson-3502.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-goldeneye-drake-common-merganser-female-prey-mia-mcpherson-3502.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/common-goldeneye-drake-common-merganser-female-prey-mia-mcpherson-3502.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/common-goldeneye-drake-common-merganser-female-prey-mia-mcpherson-3502.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110339\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}