Another lake, another Hooded Merganser, this one with a big family to care for.
Tag Archives: Hooded Merganser
I love birding from a boat. Especially a human-powered boat like my kayak. On quiet water, the boat moves silently and smoothly and many birds are not disturbed by its presence. I still have to be quiet and move slowly and when I do it all right, I might get the opportunity to watch and photograph birds up close. Well, up close with a telephoto lens!
This female Hooded Merganser was pretty relaxed and let me watch her as she preened her feathers on a floating log near shore. After a while she decided, enough was enough, and flew away. She may have had a nest to tend somewhere around the lake.
Last week we identified 114 bird species. It seems like a lot but we missed an awful lot of so-called ‘common’ birds – all the owls, all the grouse, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers and the list goes on. And we saw no real rarities. It was pretty fun birding with lots of birds singing and we worked on learning and re-learning the bird songs and calls. It’s a challenge from year to year to keep them in my head. Some stick with me; for instance Rock Wren and Willow Flycatcher. Others – well let’s just say, it’s going to take many years for me to learn the few warblers we have in our region and remember them.
I managed to get a few photographs of birds. I didn’t really try too much bird photography. It is time consuming and we were really focusing on seeing and hearing a good variety of birds.
Hooded Merganser female at Lost Lake
American Coot adult and chick
Spotted Sandpiper chick along Maryanne Creek Road
Spotted Sandpiper adult
My Everyday Photos 