{"id":48302,"date":"2017-08-30T06:01:54","date_gmt":"2017-08-30T12:01:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=48302"},"modified":"2025-05-23T15:52:52","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T20:52:52","slug":"winter-common-mergansers-a-visual-break-from-the-summer-heat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/08\/30\/winter-common-mergansers-a-visual-break-from-the-summer-heat\/","title":{"rendered":"Winter Common Mergansers – A Visual Break From The Summer Heat"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DrakeDrake Common Merganser in icy water and breeding plumage – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 250, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

This summer’s heat has really gotten to me lately and with September just around the corner I can start looking forward to lower temperatures after next week when temps will drop below the high 90’s . I don’t think this August will be a record breaking month because we had a few cooler days but generally it has been hotter than normal and this entire summer certainly has.<\/p>\n

Sometimes all I need to do is look at photos from cooler days to feel refreshed so I dug into my archives and found a few to share today.<\/p>\n

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. Common Mergansers have long, reddish serrated bills that help them to grasp the fish they eat. The males have velvety, green heads while in breeding plumage and plenty of white feathers that contrast with their dark backs, green heads and red bills.<\/p>\n

\"CommonCommon Merganser in icy water at Farmington Bay – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 250, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

These streamlined birds dive and chase after their prey underwater.\u00a0 They also look streamlined while in flight and move so quickly through the air that I have very few images of them in flight.<\/p>\n

Here in northern Utah I see mergansers more often during winter and spring than any other time of the year, the Common Mergansers do not breed here and neither do their close relatives the Red-breasted Mergansers.<\/p>\n

I’ll be happy to see cooler days soon along with the birds that will be showing up here in northern Utah that I haven’t seen in 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":"

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. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":146487,"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":false,"_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":[4004,4053,976,4483,126,5588,4062,4094,4705,4704,4239,6071,4050,3996,2063,4095,373],"class_list":["post-48302","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-adult","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-common-merganser","tag-drake","tag-ducks-2","tag-icy-water","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-merganser","tag-mergansers","tag-mergus-merganser","tag-serrated-bills","tag-snow","tag-water","tag-waterfowl","tag-wetlands","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-winter-drake-mia-mcpherson-0427.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-cz4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":110339,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/02\/17\/dapper-drake-common-merganser-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":48302,"position":0},"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":[]},{"id":109742,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/01\/20\/urban-drake-common-merganser-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":48302,"position":1},"title":"Urban Drake Common Merganser Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 20, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","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, 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