If you're a birder, you'll know what a life list is. It's basically a list of all the bird species one has observed and positively ID'd in one's lifetime. This blog is a record of my "critter" life list (mostly of birds), including photos I've taken over the years, some of the actual lifer if I was lucky enough to get the shot. Don't expect National Geographic quality stuff here, just the work of an amateur photog who loves to trudge out into nature.

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Red-Breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator)


1/15/05 Female at the marina at Morro Bay State Park. Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo County, CA (Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival event "Shorebird Seasonal Assemblage" with docents Freeman & Worth Hall)


LIFE LIST NOTES:

COMMON NAME: Red-breasted Merganser

SPECIES: Mergus serrator 

LIFE LIST DATE: 1/14/2005

LOCATION: Estuary/back bay of Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo County, CA (viewed from pontoon boat for the Bay Birding Cruise at the 2005 Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival)

From Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region

IDENTIFYING MARKS: 23"; ling bill that is thin at the base, making its forehead appear more abrupt and vertical than that of the Common Merganser. Male: Dark green crested head; white neck ring; rusty breast; red bill. Female: a brown duck with red-crested head that gradually shades to the white breast; red bill. 

VOICE: Male gives catlike yeow-yeow. Female gives harsh double note. 
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