Hooded Merganser
We live near a small community pond that has a large population of resident Mallards. While this Hooded Merganser is much smaller than the Mallards, he is definitely king of the pond. There is a small island with several rocks that are the favored perches for all the ducks. When this Merganser is present, he always gets the favored perch and will chase the Mallards away. While Hooded Mergansers are very uncommon to rare in San Diego County, this community pond has 2-5 of these birds every winter.
Country United States
State California
Gender Male
Age Adult
Activity In or By Water
Rare (For the Location)? Yes
- Created Timestamp01/01/1970 00:00:00
Nice shot of the Hooded Merganser! Even better with the interesting story about how it dominates the pond.
Nice shot – they are one of my “Nemesis Birds” – I see them frequently during migration, but never seem to be in the right place for a great photo
I certainly know about “nemesis birds”. I have a number of them. This particular bird stays (a least on and off) for a number of months in the winter. The pond is not much bigger than 2-3 tennis courts, so it is “fish in a barrel” photography.