Hooded Merganser

A drake Hooded Merganser greeted Erika and me on 26 January 2006 at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. The duck swam under the walkway leading to the refuge headquarters. The the bird dove and came up holding a bullfrog by the amphibian’s leg. After a bit of thrashing, the frog died and the merganser swallowed its prey whole. The small pond in which it swam sworms with bullfogs all summer. This January day was briefly sunny and, at 52 degrees, relatively warm. I suspect the frog was woken from its winter slumber. The frogs are introduced to western Washington and are a scorge to native aquatic wildlife. Mergansers’ culling the frog population is a good thing. As a result, perhaps we will see more dragonflies in the spring. In these posts, I have images of Hooded Mergansers also consuming small fish and crayfish.