A male common merganser is a large duck with a thin reddish orange bill. The dark green plumage on his head means he is a breeding male. You'll find these fellas and their female mates in rivers, lakes and large ponds, basically anywhere they can dive to catch fish to eat. They'll stay around all winter long, no matter how brutal the winter may be, as they choose to stay as far north as open water allows.
This male was floating gently on the wavy water in the Ottawa River. Something beneath the waves, however, startled it and the merganser started running on the water to get away from whatever had touched it below the surface.
