Red-breasted mergansers have been arriving from the north to overwinter in our saltwater coves. Here you see three pretty females showing off their punk haircuts in Great Cove on Sunday:
The males usually arrive first, while the females remain behind in Canada raising the young. Those females and young form social groups that migrate and often hunt together in the fall and winter without any mature male companions.
Red-breasted mergansers are among the fastest-flying ducks. One reportedly was clocked by a chase plane at 100 mph. They often hunt in convoys that swim and dive in formations to herd small fish into a mass that is easy to prey upon. Their long, thin bills are lined with saw-like serrations that allow them to get a good grip on wriggling, slippery fish. .
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on October 25, 2026.)