Red breasted Merganser

Red breasted Merganser, Mergus serrator, can be seen on Stocks reservoir at the moment from the bird hides, and on streams and rivers in the area too. This unusual diver is a partial migrant in the British isles, heading inland from the coast when bad weather arrives to find more sheltered places to fish.

The Merganser, like its cousin the Goosander, is a type of ‘sawbill’ having serrated edges on the insides of its bill for gripping fish, being a piscivorous or fish eating diver. Stocks reservoir is therefore a favoured fishing spot, stocked as it is with Trout to cater for the flyfishers which often visit.

They will also eat anything else they can dive for and are a good marker of a rivers health.

Water walkers

On streams where it is too shallow to dive I have seen flotillas of these striking looking birds drift downstream quartering the water and flying back upstream to start again once they have reached rapids or a bridge, sometimes they will sit on rocks to stretch their wings and sunbathe in a similar way to cormorants.

There is a video of a Merganser running on water which has been shared on the internet a lot, they are indeed capable of doing this, usually it’s to escape predators or even to chase after prey themselves. This is quite rare to see though, they are more often seen drifting about on the water, occasionally diving for food, when seen flying they fly a bit like cormorants do, low and purposeful with strong, fast wingbeats.

Flighty fishers

In the Northwest the Merganser breeds alongside some of the quieter streams in the holes of trees, they have been known to build their nests up to a hundred foot from the ground!

Breeding season is in spring and the young are usually fledged by June, when they will head with the adults to fish in coastal waters.

They are a very quick-sighted bird and will spot a threat from a long way off, so can be hard to photograph, they also constantly fish so are rarely still, on a lake or reservoir they will swim off further into the water to keep a safer eye on you but if disturbed on a stream will quickly take flight.

A B-H