My first spring duck sighting,a male Hooded Merganser

The same time period, the same location, the same species: This is what I love about nature, .loyaltly, dependability faith in it’s return migration. Every year at this time I go to the same location to stand on a highway bridge overlooking a river to find that HoodedMergansers have returned to the river . In 2017 , I saw the first mergansers there in the river on March the 10th. This year, 2018, I saw the first Hooded Merganser on March the 13th! Yes! I was standing on the bridge with my camera and I saw a dark speck in the distance and so I took a picture of the speck with my 75- 300 zoom lens.

After downloading my pictures at home I cropped

and zoomed on the distant speck and was delighted when I realized it was a male Hooded Merganser!!
I am anxious to return to that location as I expect ( hope) to find a male Common Goldenye there! However we have been experiencing a nor 'easter with a bit of now which is now blocking our driveway and we have not gotten our car out yet.  The storm warning has now ended and the rain which is expected this afternoon will ease the driveway s situation somewhat! And soon I can return to my bridge viewing location.