It has been an interesting year in my photography travels. I have seen some behavior that I could only shake my head at and wonder what the reasoning was for the behavior. But this one I still can’t figure out.
There was a light snowfall last night and it left about an inch of snow on everything this morning. It was a beautiful sunrise with a fresh coating of snow, and I was hoping to see the Otters. There is also a small group of Hooded Mergansers that has been at the pond for the last month or so.
The Otters decided not to visit today so the Mergansers were the only game in town besides the geese. When they got to my side of the pond they showed me a behavior that I have never seen. They would get up on a log with fresh snow on top and proceed to walk down the log with their head down, beak open, literally shoveling snow into their mouth!!! Click on the photo to enlarge
John Belushi would be proud!
I was at a loss to explain it. It’s not like they need the water. They spend the bulk of their life in water, and to see them drinking water is commonplace. So why do they need the snow? Maybe it’s their version of a Slushie?
Once again, “you can’t make this stuff up!!” Enjoy!