More Hooded Mergansers

I can't get enough of these diving ducks. They are so striking-looking, yet somehow comical in the intensity of the yellow eye, the sharpness of the bill, and the startling, quasi-alien appearance of their crests, which they can raise and lower.

Below is a cluster of hoodies from the larger group of 30-40 that has been hanging around on the Superior Drive pond. Note a mallard taking off at left. (Click on the photo to see it much larger.)