Photographer: Jack Goodman

Merganser taking flight

A female, easily identifiable by the scruffy brown head, in the Southwest Arm of Lake Temagami. Males are rarely seen after the eggs are laid, leaving the mothers to raise the chicks. 

You have probably seen a female with a couple of dozen chicks in tow, far more than a single brood. Mothers are known to adopt chicks, or chicks simply get mixed up and bond with another mother. 

The merganser, prefers when it can to nest in abandoned pileated woodpecker cavities, which are more commonly located in larger trees. So it isn't your imagination  if you see a duck fly into an old white pine.

Jack shot this last summer with a Nikon D1H digital camera and 80-400 millimetre VR lens. Ducks are a fast bird in flight adding to the shot's achievement.

And it is one of Jack's favourites. "I think it captures the ambience of the lake," he said.

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