{"id":44029,"date":"2016-12-20T05:48:29","date_gmt":"2016-12-20T12:48:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=44029"},"modified":"2025-05-23T15:46:05","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T20:46:05","slug":"common-merganser-hunting-close-up-in-salt-lake-county-utah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/12\/20\/common-merganser-hunting-close-up-in-salt-lake-county-utah\/","title":{"rendered":"Common Merganser hunting close up in Salt Lake County, Utah"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CommonCommon Merganser hunting close up – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Two days ago I was surprised by being able to photograph a Common Merganser hunting close to the shoreline of a nearby pond in Salt Lake County. So far this winter the mergansers at that pond have been fairly skittish and haven’t come close enough to be able to produce frame filling,\u00a0 high quality images but this one came up so close while it was fishing that I almost could not focus on it.<\/p>\n

\"CommonCommon Merganser close up – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The reason may be that this appears to be a hatch year, female Common Merganser and like other young birds it may not have develop a fear of humans yet. Whatever the reason for it being so close I had to take close up images and I couldn’t fit the entire bird in the frame. The merganser swam off after I had taken about two dozen images.<\/p>\n

The pond was frozen over yesterday so unless the weather warms up enough to defrost some of the ice on the pond I may not be down there photographing birds for a while.<\/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":"

Two days ago I was surprised by being able to photograph a Common Merganser hunting close to the shoreline of a nearby pond in Salt Lake County. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":146480,"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_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,476,709,26],"tags":[4142,976,4753,1129,126,2450,3970,4067,4705,4704,4239,1984,4046,8018,3996,2063,373,4193],"class_list":["post-44029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-common-mergansers","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-close-up","tag-common-merganser","tag-diving-ducks","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-first-winter","tag-hunting","tag-immature","tag-merganser","tag-mergansers","tag-mergus-merganser","tag-pond","tag-portrait","tag-urban","tag-water","tag-waterfowl","tag-winter","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-close-up-mia-mcpherson-6059.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-bs9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":77850,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/01\/16\/winter-common-mergansers\/","url_meta":{"origin":44029,"position":0},"title":"Winter Common Mergansers","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 16, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday and the day before I was able to observe and photograph winter Common Mergansers at my local pond on both sunny afternoons.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult female Common Merganser drinking water, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-adult-female-drinking-mia-mcpherson-7908.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-adult-female-drinking-mia-mcpherson-7908.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-adult-female-drinking-mia-mcpherson-7908.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-adult-female-drinking-mia-mcpherson-7908.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":44029,"position":1},"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":75648,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/12\/03\/first-winter-common-mergansers-in-flight\/","url_meta":{"origin":44029,"position":2},"title":"First Winter Common Mergansers In Flight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Some winters here in the Salt Lake Valley I see quite a lot Common Mergansers while in other years I only see a few. I'm hoping that this winter I will see plenty of these beautiful, sleek diving ducks.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Two first winter Common Mergansers in flight, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-first-winter-flight-mia-mcpherson-1861.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-first-winter-flight-mia-mcpherson-1861.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-first-winter-flight-mia-mcpherson-1861.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-first-winter-flight-mia-mcpherson-1861.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55252,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/12\/09\/back-view-of-a-drake-common-merganser-in-salt-lake-county\/","url_meta":{"origin":44029,"position":3},"title":"Back View Of A Drake Common Merganser In Salt Lake County","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 9, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I took this photo two winters ago on the local pond and I liked it because even though the view of the drake Common Merganser was taken of its back the merganser turned his head and gave me a great view of his eye.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Back view of a drake Common Merganser, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-drake-from-behind-mia-mcpherson-5828.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-from-behind-mia-mcpherson-5828.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-drake-from-behind-mia-mcpherson-5828.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-drake-from-behind-mia-mcpherson-5828.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49562,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/11\/24\/i-spotted-my-first-of-season-common-merganser\/","url_meta":{"origin":44029,"position":4},"title":"I Spotted My First of Season Common Merganser","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 24, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"While at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge two days ago I spotted my first of the season Common Merganser from the auto tour route.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Common Merganser on icy blue water, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-hen-mia-mcpherson-2429.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-hen-mia-mcpherson-2429.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-hen-mia-mcpherson-2429.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-hen-mia-mcpherson-2429.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55778,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/01\/22\/male-red-breasted-merganser-on-a-snowy-day-in-northern-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":44029,"position":5},"title":"Male Red-breasted Merganser On A Snowy Day In Northern Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 22, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"At first I thought the single Red-breasted Merganser was a female until I noticed the white patches of feathers behind its neck on its sides and then I realized that the merganser was a male because females do not typically have those white patches.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-breasted Merganser on a snowy, windy day, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/red-breasted-merganser-male-mia-mcpherson-3652.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/red-breasted-merganser-male-mia-mcpherson-3652.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/red-breasted-merganser-male-mia-mcpherson-3652.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/red-breasted-merganser-male-mia-mcpherson-3652.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\/44029","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=44029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44029\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}