common merganser

[squirl033]

this little fella was rather obliging and came in close enough for some nice shots at the park yesterday. i watched him for about half an hour, as he caught himself a nice fat little catfish and spent the better part of 20 minutes fussing with it until he got it into position, then - gulp! - it was gone! 40D, 400mm, 1/1000 @ f/8...

 

[Leia]

Very nice series. What I found interesting was not only that he gulped that down (I assume in one gulp) but that there are catfish up here. Catfishing is popular where I relocated from and I haven't heard a single person in my office mention doing it in the 2 years I have been here.

Is the Mergansser a local or a migratory visitor from further up north?

 

[BobH]

Nice shots! Hard to believe he could actually swallow that fish, especially since it's a catfish, which seem to have barbs and generally be tough fish. Wonder if he's got indigestion?

 

[squirl033]

Very nice series. What I found interesting was not only that he gulped that down (I assume in one gulp) but that there are catfish up here. Catfishing is popular where I relocated from and I haven't heard a single person in my office mention doing it in the 2 years I have been here.

Is the Mergansser a local or a migratory visitor from further up north?

they only seem to be around in winter, so i suspect they come from farther up north... the lake has catfish, carp, bass and trout, as well as salmon during the spawning season, and lots of little 3-spined sticklebacks in the reeds along the shore...