The Mergansers are Back

11/5/12 Kaweco fountain pen, Moleskine sketchbook

Last winter I spotted a duck with a distinctive “Mohawk” hairdo at Green Lake. I hadn’t seen it prior to that spotting, and after a few weeks, it disappeared. I had mentioned all of this to a birdwatcher friend, and she speculated that what I had seen was a Hooded Merganser. She said that when Mergansers are seen around here, it’s just a layover on their way to their final destination, so after a short while, they move on.

The Mergansers are back at Green Lake, where I sketched this male. I had only a fountain pen with black ink, so I couldn’t capture the brown color on the lower half of his body. But I’m happy that I got him in my sketchbook before he flies off again for the year.