This past Sunday when I was looking in the waters of Turtle Pond, I observed a never before seen by me bird type, a pair of Hooded Mergansers. This was my sixteenth new encounter (in this Year of the Bird) with avian creatures whom I've never seen before.
According to a number of sources, including Wikipedia, where a page states, "The hooded merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus) is a species of small duck. It is the only extant species in the genus Lophodytes. The genus name derives from the Greek language: lophos meaning 'crest', and dutes meaning diver... both sexes have crests that they can raise or lower, and the breeding plumage of the male is handsomely patterned and colored. The hooded merganser has a sawbill but is not classified as a typical merganser. Hooded mergansers are the second smallest species of merganser, with only the smew of Europe and Asia being smaller, and it also is the only merganser whose native habitat is restricted to North America."
I have a long lens on my camera, but not long enough to get great pictures of the male (black on head) + female (brown on head)! Still I did enjoy seeing them swimming in Turtle Pond and you can see them in the picture atop this post.
