Free Range Photography

April 14, 2025: Today was the first day this year that truly felt like spring at the river. The last few times I’ve been there lately a lingering dense fog has at long last lifted only to be replaced by a cold biting wind, masking bird sounds and holding activity to a minimum.

But today the fog lifted early and a warm sun replaced it. Birdsong was all around, including the first of the season sounds of Western Tanager and Black-headed Grosbeak. I didn’t get to see either of them, but I did have a surprise visitor that I’ve never seen along the river before: a Red-breasted Merganser.

This species is most often seen along the coast in the winter months and then it travels to the Arctic each spring to breed. This bird may be travelling from south of here toward the far north and perhaps got pushed inland somehow. It is in the same genus as local resident and frequently seen Common Merganser.

Features they share include a pointy serrated bill, a sometimes disheveled looking crest and some coloration. The red-breasted is slimmer overall, but both are good-sized ducks. The Common Merganser is more often in fresh water. They both dive for fish as their primary food.

When I first saw this bird, I at first just assumed it was a female Common Merganser, but the paler head feathers and reddish eye clued me in that it was a Red-breasted. The adult males of the two species are much more distinguishable from each other. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Merganser/species-compare

“Spring has returned. The earth is like a child that knows poems.” –Rainer Maria Rilke