Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Merganser Fishing


I was extremely fortunate to photograph this female Hooded Merganser as she was fishing. Normally, mergansers won't let me anywhere near them and it was the first time I had seen one by itself. They typically stay in small flocks. Unlike the Pied-billed Grebe I photographed recently, this merganser didn't spend time playing with her food. She dove, caught it, and swallowed it in fairly short order. Who says girls can't fish as well as the guys?






1/640 sec. f/7.1 ISO 200



30 comments:

Andy said...

Look ma! No hands! We poor humans could not get along without them.

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

Very cools shots, but that is one scary looking face! HA!

Anonymous said...

Brian, you must have the patience of a saint to capture actions such as this fish eating Hooded Merganser.
Well done!

Kerri Farley said...

Oh Wow ..... Truly Magnificent!!

Nefertiti said...

pauvre poisson,il n en a fait qu une bouchee !

Dina said...

Beautiful shots! Those hoodies are tough to photograph. Nice to see her swallow that fish.

TexWisGirl said...

these little hens always remind me of grace jones. :)

great shots of her big gulp!

MTWaggin said...

An astounding series of shots! What wonderful luck to have gotten her and it looks like it was on a perfect lit day to boot! Ta-da is what you should have titled it!

Gary Jones said...

Superb shots Brian

HansHB said...

Great photo-work!
Lovely photos!
Have a nice day!

Nancy J said...

One way to make your hair stand on end!! Have a mouthful... wonderful shots. Greetings from Jean

Anonymous said...

Fabulous shots, Brian!

mick said...

A beautiful series of photos and I really like the reflections in the water.

Lindsjö taxar said...

Great...right on time....love it

Marc Heath said...

Lovely set. Down the hatch.

eileeninmd said...

Wonderful series on the merganser, Brian!

Andee said...

That is awesome! Great action shots.

Deb said...

great job...

Grandma Barb's This and That said...

Magnificent! I want to see this one in your coffee table book. :)

Carole M. said...

super moment to catpure; what a buzz!!

Findlay Wilde said...

I really, really enjoyed this post. From Findlay

Amanda said...

Your photos never cease to amaze me. I love the fishing ones.

Stewart M said...

Great shots - I suppose it was a battle between being near where you were and near where the fish were! For a while the fish seem to have won - although this fish seems to have lost!!

I'm not sure this makes any sense!

cheers and thinks for linking to WBW.

Stewart M - Melbourne

Unknown said...

Great capture!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

Anonymous said...

Poor girl must have been HONGRY! hehehe

Love the cartoon-like time lapse shots =) Is that what it's called? I can't remember...

Yes, it was the loaner camera I'm working with, not a new new one, but this is new to me! LoL! I've never had a DSLR camera before, so it's taking some getting used to & I'm trying to learn what I can. =0

Shaun said...

That bird has got one bad hair day going on. Stunningly sharp image.

Kenneth Cole Schneider said...

That is a great series of photos! This sort of capture does no happen by accident-- you were obviously aware and ready for whatever interesting things were going on!

Debbie said...

she does have skills!!

Bonnie K said...

What a beauty. Great photos. I hope the fish was good.

Wally Jones said...

This is a really nice series and wonderful image quality! I love watching birds fishing (since I like to do it, too).