Beautiful Plumage!

 I am not referring to the plumage of the Norwegian Blue Parrot made famous by those terribly funny Monty Python chaps, I am of course referring to the plumage of the Hooded mergansers as seen in the pictures below.

I had a short break from sharing pictures due to a brief camping trip in Glencoe (Scottish Highlands) and while I have loads of images to sort through and eventually share with you I am continuing today with some of my wildlife shots from WWT Martin Mere.

I think we can agree that the Hooded Merganser is a very handsome bird. It is a diving duck and like the Goldeneye in my last post has a wide flattened tail which is uses to push itself under water in search of food. It has a long thin beak which is no doubt designed for catching small fish and crustaceans that it likes to eat. The male and female have very different and distinct markings, the male with its black and white breast, head and back with more orange coloured flanks. He looks very impressive with his tufted head fully extended. He also has bold yellow eyes.

The female on the other hand is less striking brown although she has a beautiful chestnut red crest and reddish eyes. 

When they weren't diving for food they spent much of the time circling each other, they make quite a pair. They are cavity nesters often using holes in trees close to fresh water or even in nest boxes.

These pictures confirm what I said in my last post, ducks are not less interesting or less attractive than geese.