{"id":99489,"date":"2022-01-31T05:17:23","date_gmt":"2022-01-31T12:17:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=99489"},"modified":"2022-01-31T13:32:40","modified_gmt":"2022-01-31T20:32:40","slug":"first-winter-common-merganser-on-the-bear-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/01\/31\/first-winter-common-merganser-on-the-bear-river\/","title":{"rendered":"First Winter Common Merganser On The Bear River"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FirstFirst winter Common Merganser on the Bear River \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 640, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

On my last two trips up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> I’ve stopped long enough to photograph a first winter Common Merganser on the Bear River. I haven’t been seeing Common Mergansers on the ponds close to where I live or anywhere in northern Utah in large numbers. These diving ducks are birds I usually only see during the colder months of the year and I have been missing them.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the Common Mergansers didn’t need to fly this far south so far this winter to find open water and food. I really don’t know why I am not seeing as many of them as I typically do during the winter. Consequently when I have seen Common Mergansers this winter my hope has been to get them in my viewfinder and take a few images of them before they fly off.<\/p>\n

\"FirstFirst winter Common Merganser floating by \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 640, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This first winter Common Merganser has been cooperative both times I have see him. I’ve been able to take photos of the young drake paddling around, floating by and looking wonderful in the morning light shining on him and the river.<\/p>\n

There are still a few weeks of winter left before spring arrives and these mergansers take off for their breeding grounds. I hope that a few show up at my local pond so that I can relax and enjoy observing and photographing them.<\/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":"

On my last two trips up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I’ve stopped long enough to photograph a first winter Common Merganser on the Bear River.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":99482,"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":[124,27,1148,476,26],"tags":[4529,976,4753,4483,1129,126,2450,4067,4062,4094,4705,4704,4239,4378,958,5558,3996,2063,4095,373,4193],"class_list":["post-99489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-common-mergansers","category-utah","tag-bear-river","tag-common-merganser","tag-diving-ducks","tag-drake","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-first-winter","tag-immature","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-merganser","tag-mergansers","tag-mergus-merganser","tag-morning","tag-reflections","tag-river","tag-water","tag-waterfowl","tag-wetlands","tag-winter","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/common-merganser-first-winter-male-mia-mcpherson-4749.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-pSF","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":99489,"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":123760,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/03\/13\/immature-common-merganser-shaking-off\/","url_meta":{"origin":99489,"position":1},"title":"Immature Common Merganser Shaking Off","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 13, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Just a simple photo of an immature Common Merganser today. I took this image of the merganser on the Bear River almost two years ago on a bright, sunny morning.","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":"Immature Common Merganser shaking off water 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\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-flapping-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-1609.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-flapping-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-1609.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-flapping-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-1609.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-flapping-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-1609.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":110602,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/01\/hen-common-merganser-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":99489,"position":2},"title":"Hen Common Merganser At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 1, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Last month I photographed this hen Common Merganser in a small spot of open water next to an ice shelf at Bear River MBR. 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