{"id":41965,"date":"2016-09-14T06:05:14","date_gmt":"2016-09-14T12:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=41965"},"modified":"2025-09-12T08:19:24","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T13:19:24","slug":"red-breasted-merganser-floating-on-the-gulf-of-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/09\/14\/red-breasted-merganser-floating-on-the-gulf-of-mexico\/","title":{"rendered":"Red-breasted Merganser Floating On The Gulf of Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Red-breastedRed-breasted Merganser high on a wave – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1\/800, ISO 200, Nikkor 80-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I know that ducks aren’t everyone’s cup of tea but I happen to like them and a species of duck that I really like are Red-breasted Mergansers.<\/p>\n

Mergansers don’t have the typical “Donald Duck” bills, they have long, thin serrated bills that are used to catch and hold their prey.<\/p>\n

I photographed this Red-breasted Merganser floating on the Gulf of Mexico on an April morning from the shoreline at Fort De Soto<\/span><\/a>, Florida in April of 2008.<\/p>\n

The merganser had been actively fishing in the Gulf and then it seemed to rest and catch its breath while floating on top of the waves.<\/p>\n

It looked so peaceful riding the waves that I can remember that I felt peaceful too and thoroughly enjoyed the warm sun, wet sand, and sunshine on my skin as I watched and photographed this bird.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good. It is better with birds.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I photographed this Red-breasted Merganser floating on the Gulf of Mexico on an April morning from the shoreline at Fort De Soto, Florida in April of 2008. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":155470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,25,704,2000,133],"tags":[4004,4753,126,5423,4077,4705,4704,277,4246,140,6071,3996,2063,5424],"class_list":["post-41965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-florida","category-fort-de-soto-county-park","category-pinellas-county-florida","category-red-breasted-mergansers","tag-adult","tag-diving-ducks","tag-ducks-2","tag-floating","tag-gulf-of-mexico","tag-merganser","tag-mergansers","tag-mergus-serrator","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-red-breasted-merganser","tag-serrated-bills","tag-water","tag-waterfowl","tag-wave"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t