Hooded Merganser Top-side flight

It seemed like this Hooded Merganser came out of nowhere and flip-flopped to lose altitude quickly right before me. I was lucky to get a few frames, and I especially love this one with the autumn colours in the background courtesy of the cottonwood tree.

Hooded Merganser Top-side Flight (Lophodytes cucullatus, Harle couronné, HOME) from my Better than Bosque workshop . Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony a9 III Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 600mm f/4 G Master OSS Lens with Sony FE 2X Teleconverter @1,200mm ISO 2,500, f/8 @ 1/5,000s. Manual exposure. Full frame image.

Hooded Merganser Head-on Portrait

A Drake (male) Hooded Merganser swimming strait towards us during my Best of Bosque workshop last December. I had committed to the 600 f/4 lens with 2X extender so I was really getting worried that it would get too close when it made eye contact - smile.

These birds are able to catch fish by direct underwater pursuit, remaining submerged for up to 2 minutes. They resurface to swallow their prey, turning it around so it is swallowed headfirst. This method avoids injury from the spiny fins of some types of fish.