Common merganser, aka "fish duck." The buff colored chest is unusual. Should be gleaming white. Perhaps immature?This should be in the funny meme section:
“What happens when the swans aren’t flying” or something like that.
But the reality is that this handsome fellow checks a box on my North American duck collection. View attachment 647930
Many years ago when I was hunting this spot and the sun was setting, a lone swan came flying by me down the river. Everything in the valley was just falling into the shadows and subdued but the cliffs were still lit up brilliantly. Sadly, no camera. The white swan flying in front of that backdrop would have made a priceless photo. A special memory.No birds in the bag today. Never even fired a shot. That's a first for this year. But scenery was worth the drive. Pushed up the biggest whitetail buck I've seen in my life. A real beauty but he wouldn't pose for a photo. The two-tone massive clay cutbank on the other side of the river was more cooperative.
View attachment 647916
The breast coloring on common mergansers tend to take on a pinkish coloration when they are feeding on salmon or trout. Something like how flamingos plumage changes with their diets.I’ve shot them on the Klamath River in Northern California and they were very pink but fades with the mounting process. The bird in this picture had a very creamy colored breast but turned snowy white when degreased for mounting. He had several 4” trout in his gullet.Common merganser, aka "fish duck." The buff colored chest is unusual. Should be gleaming white. Perhaps immature?