{"id":62002,"date":"2019-12-10T05:24:06","date_gmt":"2019-12-10T12:24:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=62002"},"modified":"2024-01-17T09:00:37","modified_gmt":"2024-01-17T16:00:37","slug":"drake-hooded-merganser-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/12\/10\/drake-hooded-merganser-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"Drake Hooded Merganser Photos"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PortraitPortrait of an alert drake Hooded Merganser \u2013 Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday started off dreary but later in the afternoon I was able to get out in the field and I had a blast taking photos of a spiffy drake Hooded Merganser for a little while.<\/p>\n

\"HoodedHooded Merganser drake on calm water \u2013 Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The evening light was beautiful and the drake Hooded Merganser was anything but timid, in fact he appeared to be as bold as the markings on his crested head.<\/p>\n

\"DrakeDrake Hooded Merganser in breeding plumage \u2013 Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The drake was constantly on the move though because of the more aggressive and larger mallards that were nearby and that gave me the opportunity to photograph him floating on the water moving away from me…<\/p>\n

\"HoodedHooded Merganser drake and reflection \u2013 Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/640, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

And towards me. I believe this species was poorly named, “Crested Merganser” seems to fit them much better than “Hooded” does.<\/p>\n

\"HoodedHooded Merganser drake close up \u2013 Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The Hooded Merganser came so close to me that there were several times that I opted to take portraits of him which showed fine details in his plumage we might not normally see in full body images.<\/p>\n

\"DrakeDrake Hooded Merganser tilting his head \u2013 Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

But the full body photos showed all of his bold plumage patterns so I was happy when he moved far enough away to capture them all.<\/p>\n

\"DrakeDrake Hooded Merganser splash landing \u2013 Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/640, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The mallards caused the drake Hooded Merganser to fly just barely above the water a few times and in this image I was able to photograph him splashing as he skittered across the water in front of me.<\/p>\n

\"HoodedHooded Merganser drake and splashing water \u2013 Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/640, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

At the end of his skid a large bow wave formed in front of the drake. I’m happy I had just enough shutter speed to freeze the water. By this time the sun was low on the horizon and I knew my time with this handsome male Hooded Merganser was about to end.<\/p>\n

\"SmilingSmiling Hooded Merganser drake \u2013 Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/640, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I know this Hooded Merganser isn’t “smiling” but it sure looks like he is to me. The thing is, I was the one smiling because of having the chance to photograph him, up close, farther away and in lovely light.<\/p>\n

\"DrakeDrake Hooded Merganser with open bill \u2013 Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/640, ISO 500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I checked the time stamp on my images of this Hooded Merganser and I spent precisely 8 minutes and 24 seconds photographing him and I believe I made the most of that brief period of time.<\/p>\n

\"DrakeDrake Hooded Merganser portrait \u2013 Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Then as the sun started to disappear behind the mountains to the west I had to say goodbye to this cooperative and handsome Hooded Merganser. Photographing him was just so much fun.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Yesterday started off dreary but later in the afternoon I was able to get out in the field and I had a blast taking photos of a spiffy drake Hooded Merganser for a little while.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":119808,"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":[27,6932,709,26],"tags":[4540,4053,2061,4142,4753,4483,126,6934,6933,4062,4705,4704,10698,1984,4046,2504,8114,6979,8018,3996,2063,373],"class_list":["post-62002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-hooded-mergansers","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-alert","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-calm","tag-close-up","tag-diving-ducks","tag-drake","tag-ducks-2","tag-hooded-merganser","tag-lophodytes-cucullatus","tag-male","tag-merganser","tag-mergansers","tag-park","tag-pond","tag-portrait","tag-reflection","tag-splash-landing","tag-splashing-water","tag-urban","tag-water","tag-waterfowl","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/hooded-merganser-drake-pond-mia-mcpherson-5138.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-g82","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":62002,"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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/hooded-merganser-drake-mia-mcpherson-5141.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/hooded-merganser-drake-mia-mcpherson-5141.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":119774,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/01\/17\/urban-hooded-merganser-drake\/","url_meta":{"origin":62002,"position":1},"title":"Urban Hooded Merganser Drake","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 17, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Thanks to Shane Smith, neighbor, friend, and budding bird photographer, I photographed this drake Hooded Merganser two days ago at one of our local ponds.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Urban drake Hooded Merganser, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/hooded-merganser-drake-urban-mia-mcpherson-2781.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/hooded-merganser-drake-urban-mia-mcpherson-2781.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/hooded-merganser-drake-urban-mia-mcpherson-2781.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/hooded-merganser-drake-urban-mia-mcpherson-2781.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55680,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/01\/14\/hen-and-drake-hooded-mergansers-with-and-without-prey\/","url_meta":{"origin":62002,"position":2},"title":"Hen and Drake Hooded Mergansers With and Without Prey","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 14, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The birds I photographed the most yesterday were a pair of Hooded Mergansers that were actively foraging for prey most of the time I had them in my viewfinder.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Hooded Merganser with a Weather Loach, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/hooded-merganser-male-weather-loach-mia-mcpherson-1100.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/hooded-merganser-male-weather-loach-mia-mcpherson-1100.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/hooded-merganser-male-weather-loach-mia-mcpherson-1100.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/hooded-merganser-male-weather-loach-mia-mcpherson-1100.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":62424,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/01\/05\/hooded-merganser-drake-a-one-day-opportunity\/","url_meta":{"origin":62002,"position":3},"title":"Hooded Merganser Drake – A One Day Opportunity","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"In December I had eight minutes and twenty-four seconds to photograph this Hooded Merganser drake and every time I have gone to the local pond after that I have looked for him to be there again.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Hooded Merganser drake swimming by, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/hooded-merganser-drake-swimming-by-mia-mcpherson-5015.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/hooded-merganser-drake-swimming-by-mia-mcpherson-5015.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/hooded-merganser-drake-swimming-by-mia-mcpherson-5015.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/hooded-merganser-drake-swimming-by-mia-mcpherson-5015.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":62002,"position":4},"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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/hooded-merganser-drake-on-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-9437.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/hooded-merganser-drake-on-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-9437.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":75841,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/12\/06\/females-and-first-winter-male-hooded-mergansers\/","url_meta":{"origin":62002,"position":5},"title":"Females And First Winter Male Hooded Mergansers","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 6, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"All three of the Hooded Mergansers were close to me because there was a shelf of ice that prevented them from swimming out into the middle of the pond.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Hooded Merganser on her side, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/hooded-merganser-adult-female-mia-mcpherson-2-8399.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/hooded-merganser-adult-female-mia-mcpherson-2-8399.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/hooded-merganser-adult-female-mia-mcpherson-2-8399.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/hooded-merganser-adult-female-mia-mcpherson-2-8399.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\/62002","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=62002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62002\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}