Common Merganser [Mergus merganser] ~ #25

This seems to be a common sight in my pictures, capturing the back of the birds as they flee from my presence.  I was walking along the spawning channel and as soon as I caught site of them, through a break in the tall grasses, they caught wind of me and they were gone.  I did try to catch some shots as they swam past, but I wasn’t quite quick enough and just got a lot of blurry shots.  This picture of the male below was the best I got.

Last year I was a little luckier and spotted a pair of Common Mergansers through the grass and managed to snap a few shots before they knew I was there.

This picture above was pretty much taken a year ago, April 2014, in pretty much the same spot.  Interesting looking ducks … wonder if I’ll ever see any chicks.