Shrimp boats docked at Joe Patti's Seafood, Pensacola FL
The "spill" from unloading and cleaning the vessels generated a lot of bird activity. The mergansers were very cautious. They came into the docking area, fed for a short time, swam out into deeper water for a variable time, and then made another excursion into the docking area. As they swam out into deeper water the birds would "submarine", swimming for a long distance with the head and most of the body underwater but with part of the back still visible, and only periodically raise the head out of the water before submerging it again. I could not get the picture I wanted standing on the dock opposite the shrimp boats. I wanted a lower perspective. At low tide I was able to hide in reeds near the entrance to the docking area and photograph the birds as they entered and exited. The conjunction of low tide, sunrise, and cooperative birds occurred on the third morning I was trying to capture this shot.
