{"id":44719,"date":"2017-02-02T06:28:08","date_gmt":"2017-02-02T13:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=44719"},"modified":"2026-02-02T06:53:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T12:53:21","slug":"photographing-common-mergansers-at-farmington-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/02\/02\/photographing-common-mergansers-at-farmington-bay\/","title":{"rendered":"Photographing Common Mergansers at Farmington Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DrakeDrake Common Merganser in breeding plumage – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/800, ISO 250, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

There was some nice light yesterday for a bit so I just had to get out into the field, I needed to just think about birds and photographing them and escape my concerns about our country for a while.<\/p>\n

Antelope Island looked socked in by fog, in fact from I-15 I couldn’t even see it, not even Frary Peak, so Farmington Bay<\/span><\/a> seemed like the logical choice. And it was.<\/p>\n

\"WinterWinter Common Merganser – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 250, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I spent time photographing a few Rough-legged Hawks but my personal choice for birds of the day were the Common Mergansers I observed and photographed.<\/p>\n

There are only a few locations in Utah where Common Mergansers can be seen year round, mostly I see them in the fall through early spring but usually winter presents the most opportunities. I don’t see them all that often so I jump when I can photographed these saw-billed ducks.<\/p>\n

The males and females, or drakes and hens, look quite different from each other in breeding plumage, in nonbreeding plumage they look more alike. First winter males look similar to the females.<\/p>\n

\"DrakeDrake Common Merganser taking off – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 250, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

There are a few species of ducks including Common Mergansers that nest in cavities in trees, Common Mergansers will nest in live or dead trees and man made nest boxes. Less often they will also nest in rocky crevices,\u00a0 holes in the ground, hollow logs, cliffs and holes in banks.<\/p>\n

\"TwoTwo Common Mergansers – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 250, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Common Mergansers are social and they are usually seen in numbers from 3 to 25 or more. Yesterday I saw about 10 at Farmington Bay where I photographed these mergansers.<\/p>\n

\"SwimmingSwimming drake Common Merganser in breeding plumage – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/640, ISO 250, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

In my American Coot being chased by Mallards for food<\/span><\/a> post yesterday I mentioned that some ducks are intraspecific and interspecific kleptoparasites which means they steal food from their own species and from other species, Common Mergansers fit into that group and they are<\/em> food thieves.<\/p>\n

They eat fish and when Pied-billed Grebes catch fish near Common Mergansers the mergansers will try to steal the prey. That happened once yesterday where it got a little crazy trying to follow them with my lens as the merganser chased the grebe, unfortunately I didn’t get any decent pictures of the action. It was too frenzied!<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Common Merganser swimming by – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 250, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Mergansers in general are called “saw bills” because of the serrated edges of their bills, those serrations help them hold onto their slippery prey.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Common Merganser in icy water – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 250, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I usually see far more females and first year Common Mergansers than I do males in breeding plumage so I focused on this handsome guy often yesterday.<\/p>\n

They are handsome looking ducks. That red bill and the green head plus the snow whites and grays of their body are a visual delight for me.<\/p>\n

\"CommonCommon Merganser on icy blue water – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 250, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though the females and young are drab compared to the males I think they have their own refined, subtle beauty. I won’t pass up photographing them whenever I have the chance.<\/p>\n

I was grateful to get out, feel the cold air on my skin, see the sun shining and to be able to focus entirely on birds for a few hours yesterday. I needed the peace being with them brings me.<\/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":"

I spent time photographing a few Rough-legged Hawks but my personal choice for birds of the day were the Common Mergansers I observed and photographed. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":146453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_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":""},"categories":[27,476,1022,697,26],"tags":[976,4753,4483,1129,126,4070,4359,5588,5641,5638,4062,4705,4704,4239,8301,8300,1283,3792,4489,373],"class_list":["post-44719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-common-mergansers","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-utah","tag-common-merganser","tag-diving-ducks","tag-drake","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-female","tag-hen","tag-icy-water","tag-kleptoparasites","tag-kleptoparasitism","tag-male","tag-merganser","tag-mergansers","tag-mergus-merganser","tag-photograph","tag-photographing","tag-swimming","tag-take-off","tag-wing-flap","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-male-breeding-mia-mcpherson-0141.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-bDh","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":44719,"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, 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spent a couple of hours yesterday photographing winter birds at Farmington Bay WMA and closer to home in the morning and afternoon.","rel":"","context":"In "American Coots"","block_context":{"text":"American Coots","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gruiformes\/american-coots\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake Common Goldeneye displaying, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/common-goldeneye-drake-displaying-mia-mcpherson-8180.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/common-goldeneye-drake-displaying-mia-mcpherson-8180.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/common-goldeneye-drake-displaying-mia-mcpherson-8180.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/common-goldeneye-drake-displaying-mia-mcpherson-8180.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48302,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/08\/30\/winter-common-mergansers-a-visual-break-from-the-summer-heat\/","url_meta":{"origin":44719,"position":3},"title":"Winter Common Mergansers – A Visual Break From The Summer Heat","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Back in February there was still snow on the ground, ice on the water and Common Mergansers were at Farmington Bay WMA and some were sporting their breeding plumage.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake Common Merganser in icy water and breeding plumage, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, 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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":110339,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/02\/17\/dapper-drake-common-merganser-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":44719,"position":5},"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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/common-merganser-winter-ice-drake-mia-mcpherson-3751.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/common-merganser-winter-ice-drake-mia-mcpherson-3751.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\/44719","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=44719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}