This Common Merganser is an adult female it is a large, heavy-bodied diving duck with a long, slender orange-red bill and a chestnut brown head with white chin patch. The photo was taken in the mouth of the Glendale River were families of these ducks are common in the spring. The bald eagles are abundant along the coast and will often hunt ducks. It is interesting to watch the eagles in action. It takes two eagles to constantly dive at the ducks until they tire and spend too much time on the surface were they can be caught by the eagle. One of our guides and guests saw an eagle catch a blue heron that was not paying attention. The eagle caught the heron on floating kelp and managed to get it to shore about ten meters (yards) away. Bald eagles can lift up to half their body weight, around 1.8 to 2.3 kg (4 to 5 pounds). Although blue heron are a large bird a national geographic website says that the blue heron is 2.1 to 2.5 kg (4.6 to 7.3 lbs.) so it is possible to lift the heron a short distance.
