Thursday, March 27, 2008

Morning Merganser

This couple almost made me late for work yesterday morning. I had no expectation of seeing anything but the usual mallards, but a white flash caught my eye.

 
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You can't tell from these photos, but the water level is receding as the ground thaws. The number of ducks and geese is less each day - a week or two ago, I was seeing 100 or more a day, now 20 is a crowd. The cranes seem to be in residence, but everyone else is just passing through.

11 reflections:

Lana Gramlich said...

Very nice. :)

robin andrea said...

Mergansers are such pretty birds. What a fine critter to be late for work for.

Wren said...

lana - it was a very nice surprise and start to the day

robin - if only my coworkers had been more impressed!

mon@rch said...

Sorry to hear the numbers of cranes have gone down! But the find of Hooded Mergansers is great!

Chrisss said...

Great photos. I know Michigan well...and it has sure been snowing a lot of late. You blog reminds me of home. I'll stop by again.

Wren said...

mon@rch - cranes are holding steady, it's the ducks and geese that are fickle.

chrisss - welcome! we had yet more snow last night. If it were happening somewhere else, I might be able to see the humor in the situation. :)

Sandpiper said...

Great pictures of the Hoodies. I FINALLY had a chance to get a really close picture of a couple of them this week, but I had stupidly left my camera on "auto focus" and the sound scared them off!

Wren said...

sandpiper - frustrating, isn't it? Mine aren't as clear as I would have liked, but I didn't have time to set up the tripod.

Mary said...

The males are striking! I've notice that the females let me near but the males make a fast getaway. Great shots, Wren!

Larry said...

Very nice shots! Hooded Mergansers are one of my favorites to watch with they're diving and courting antics.

Wren said...

Mary - I'm surprised at how shy all the birds are. Just walking out on the deck can cause a stir, and it's not that close to the water.

Larry - This pair was fun to watch. The female is so subdued, I almost didn't see her.