In the UK, common mergansers are known as goosanders. People can even get in a huff if you refer to them as common mergansers, and I haven't the foggiest why it's such an emotional issue for some people. But common sense prevails in some cases, and people will be just as happy to accept one name as the other. It's in North America that we call them common mergansers, and we have them here, too. I wasn't able to get any really clear shots of them because the sun was really bright, and they were at a bit of a distance, but I saw this huge group of youngsters or adults in non-breeding plumage out on sea when I was in Aberdeen last month for a few hours between ferries and planes back to London. This was probably the best shot I was able to get, unfortunately, but I'm always happy to get one good enough for ID, and this was!
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