Goosander male

[marlunn]

Had a day out at a country park in Lincoln last weekend, lots of wildlife but one not often seen in this location was a Goosander, definitely not something normally seen in a urban city park here! I think this one took offense at being photographed, it was tricky to capture given the bank was lined with trees so panning to get this image was a bit of a challange



comments and critique welcome

[Geoff F]

You have done better than me, Mark.

We occasionally get them on a river around here but they are definitely camera shy. I have managed to edge closer with a clean view of them, but as soon as I point my camera in their direction they are away.

[Davejl]

Nice action shot

[Rebel]

Love it Mark, sharp and focussed in all the right places!

[Shadowman]

Nice capture of the glide.

[Dave Humphries]

Good one Mark, the head is nice and sharp.

[John 2]

That's a nice capture Mark. Nice reflection and a good bit of panning.

[NorthernFocus]

Nicely captured. Never heard that name before. We call that one a merganser. Another one of those trunk/boot kind of things I guess.

[marlunn]

Geoff,thanks, yep they are very camera shy , but this one was with a female and another male so reluctant to leave first!
Cheers Dave, appreciated
Thank Matt, always a bit iffy on panning focus - this time got lucky
John, thanks, appreciated
Dave, I was lucky it stayed parallel to the first focus point
Cheers John, the reflection was a real bonus - who says strong direct light is a bad thing
Thanks Dan, the Merganser is different hereto the Goosander, Male has a red chest, females virtually identical, they tend to be less seen over here.

[IzzieK]

As long as the head is nice and sharp, the rest does not matter much. I know what it was doing and the reflections it created was excellent.

[marlunn]

Thanks Izzie

[Wavelength]

Awesome

[marlunn]

Thank you Nandakumar, appreciated.

[Urbanflyer]

lovely image. Here they are called Common Mergansers--also have several other mergansers including the red-breasted which, I think, you refer to. In Seattle we have a flock that winters on one of our urban lakes. In some years I have seen up to 200. Maybe if you called them common mergansers they would be less skittish?

[marlunn]

Hi Judith, yup, acording to my book the 'Merganser' here is the Red Breasted Merganser, Mergus serrator,, the one we call a Goosander is Mergus merganser but its a bit of an old book so may well be they have been re-named by now maybe thats why they are a bit skittish - not sure who they are now

[mugge]

I tried a couple of weeks ago to capture ducks taking off - the blighters would not cooperate. Your duck did and you did a good job.
Cheers Ole

[marlunn]

Cheers Ole, appreciated

[bnnrcn]

Very nice image Mark

[marlunn]

Thank you Binnur

[Geoff F]

Checked my books, Mark, and they all agree with you; although none are recent publications.

Incidentally, I went looking for Goosanders today, where I have previously found them, but only a quick rear end view of what looked like Red-breasted Mergansers taking flight. Everything was in a very skittish mood.