On one of our days in Alaska we went on a cruise around one of the glaciers to see the sights and some wildlife. The trip left from Seward, which was about a two hour drive from Anchorage, but even the drive was well worthwhile. The scenery was incredible and at one point we stopped at a particularly beautiful lake. There were quite a few common loons (Gavia immer) in a small group out on the lake, but they were being overwhelmed by a group of people, so we walked off a little ways. We found a quiet little dock area, and not far off the dock, a common merganser (Mergus merganser) was resting in the morning sun. She looked like she was quite comfortable and was completely undisturbed by our presence. The sun was still coming up and was creating some lovely reflections in the water. The shot doesn’t show a lot of details of the bird, but it’s a good image of the bird in her habitat. It was an very nice, very peaceful start to what turned into an eventful day.