37. Red-breasted Merganser

Right as we arrived, I saw a merganser go darting across the lake, ignoring David Sibley's, er, cardinal rule, I stopped looking at the bird and whipped out my bird book. Too late. Gone.

I had to trek all around the marsh before I finally got a good enough look at the three individuals to be able to identify them all, Red-breasted Mergansers.

Mergansers are like racing ducks. They are streamlined, like formula one racecars. Small and sleek, they skim across the water effortlessly and much faster than the other ducks.