goosanders on the waves

[turlough]

I've never seen Goosanders (Mergus merganser) before but when I visited a nearby town the harbour was dotted with small flocks of them. They're much larger in reality than I thought they would be.

Click to enlarge:

Comments

[redbird]

I just looked these guys up, and found that the "common merganser" of North America, which I have seen, is a different subspecies than your goosander.

[turlough]

I didn't even know it was a circumpolar species until I looked it up on Wikipedia to find the Latin name. I thought it was an Old World-only bird.

[pauraque]

I love these guys!

[turlough]

They looked so cool floating along without a seeming care in the world :-)

[full_metal_ox]

Thank you for not only showing me an unfamiliar bird but teaching me a new vocabulary word (“goosander” sounds a bit like a term for a non-binary goose.)

[yourlibrarian]

A new one for me too!

[turlough]

I didn't know the English name before I looked them up on Wikipedia (originally to find the Latin name). It immediately made me think of geese!

[shirebound]

Thank you for sharing them with us!

[turlough]

I love pestering people about the fascinating things I've seen out and about :-)

[full_metal_ox]

How wonderful, then, that this comm is full of people who love to be pestered!

(About fascinating things.)

[adafrog]

:)

[turlough]

❤️

[puddleshark]

Lovely photo! Thank you.

I've only ever caught distant glimpses of them on flooded gravel pits round here.

[turlough]

I was amazed by the way they didn't seem to mind at all that people were walking so close. I've only read about them before so this was a complete first for me.

[a_natural_beauty]

Aww, they are lovely. :)

[turlough]

They're such striking birds!

[a_natural_beauty]

Yes, I couldn't agree more!