58. Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)

It's the last of the ducks today - the Hooded Merganser is another North American duck that occasionally pops up over here. Tomorrow I start on the gamebirds! I've enjoyed drawing the ducks very much, as they are a morphologically varied and colourful bunch.

One of my own photos today - this is the Hooded Merganser that used to hang around at RSPB Radipole Lake in Weymouth - I think he was an escapee from a collection. Don't think he's still around though...

Hooded Merganser at Radipole Lake, 09/04/2010.

Hooded Merganser sketch.

When I showed my dad the photo above, he nicknamed it the Mekon Duck, after the uber-villain from the Dan Dare comics - due to the Merganser's apparently massive head (actually created by the male's feathered crest, rather than his huge Mekon-sized brain!).

An uncanny likeness? What do you think?