Red-breasted Merganser

I was delighted to photograph this Red-breasted Merganser on 23 February 2021 in Budd Bay off Olympia. This encounter was my first for the year, which is odd, since I’ve been on the lookout for one and saw dozens in January and February last year. Drake Red-breasted Mergansers have such flamboyant head feathers. Craik et al. (2020) wrote, “Its spectacular asymmetrical nuchal crest appears incongruous with symmetry elsewhere in nature.” Well, I’m not sure about that, but his merganser was definitely having a proverbial bad hair day when it turned to have its back to the wind.