Mergansers

The mergansers around here are extremely shy.  Any time I approach water where they are swimming they immediately swim to the far side of the pond or lake.  It can be very frustrating trying to get close enough to get a good shot.

With ice covering ponds and lakes now, and choking even the feeders to marshes, the birds have fewer places to be.  Consequently I've been able to get a bit closer, although I'd like to gain another fifty to one hundred feet.

Today I found a congregation of red-breasted mergansers, hooded mergansers, and the ubiquitous mallards. Here are some shots of the mergansers.

Male red-breasted in front of female hooded

Male red-breasted

Male hooded (left) and male red-breasted

Male red-breasted, two male hooded, one female hooded

We also have common mergansers around, which ironically for us are the least common, but so far I haven't been able to approach them close enough for a good shot.  Even these are softer than I would like because of the distance.  I either need to be closer, or get longer glass.