One of the first ducks to return to our ponds is a stunning bird known in Britain as the Goosander. To scientists, Mergus merganser is a diving bird a serrated beak designed to snag fish; to the Brits, the common name of this European and North American native—in our country, the duck is usually referred to as the Common Merganser—is derived, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, from the male bird's resemblance to the feathering of a cross between a Goose and a "shelduck," which is called, in one dialect, the bergander. It's a stretch, perhaps, but so it has been, sayeth the OED, since the early 17th century. Whatever the origin, what always attracts me to the Goosander, besides the simple fact that both males (on the right) and females are simply striking, is the fact that they're also harbingers. Their appearance today, however, is unprecedented; I've never seen them here so early. Typically, they arrive towards the end of the month, when the ice is finally on the way out. That was true today... and here they are.