Common Merganser or a Goosander is a species of a water bird, from a family of ducks. Unfortunatley, in Poland small and hard to photograph. Estimated population is smaller than 1000 couples, even less than of a Black Stork or an Eurasian Curlew. Wingspan of a Merganser does not exceed 1 meter and weight is less than 2 kilograms. Let's hope it will change, regarding their fertility. Upon Warta I have photgraphed a female with 8 ducklings, swimming in the middle of the river. So, maybe it will become more popular species in our country. In order to take satisfactory pictures of this species I went on a winter trip to the seaside, where, in the docks you can take pictures of the whole brood of Mergansers. You need reflexes, luck, time and light, in order to take a picture during the flight, when they decrease the distance to observer. I think couple of them are really successful.
Last minute news 12-2013
The December trip to the Hel Peninsula resulted in a change in the mergansers’ gallery. There were not many of them, as it could be observed in the last year, but two females during the care of their feathers and a lone male at sea allowed me to take a few photos. I guess the temperature above zero caused they could not be seen in this year (13'). Last year, at dock in Władysławowo, the whole flocks of mergansers with among them took off or landed on water.
Last minute news -09/2017
Unfortunately, taking photos of the common mergansers was not so easy as of the dunlins at the Baltic Sea. It was still the night when I lied down in the place where common mergansers were sleeping at a distance of 20-30 meters from the shore. Unluckily, when the light started to be good enough to take good, interesting pictures, the mergansers went away. Nevertheless, these few interesting pictures that have been taken have replaced the previous ones. The gallery has been rebuilt, but there is still a lot to do before getting into “my favorites” list.
Last minute news-07/2020
Have to say, it failed this time. Mikoszewo is a place where I thought there was always something going on and it can always take some interesting pictures of birds. The end of July, this time turned out to be a bad time for photography. A dozen or so degrees of Celsius, fairly strong winds and a small number of birds. To make matters worse, the birds were rare and very shy. It's quite unusual for this place. The most interesting new photos were taken by Mergansers and a recording of their voice. However, the changes in the gallery are so small that after the changes, the Merganser gallery does not find to the news.