Merganser?

These guys were scooting across the bright blue water leaving the exuberant splashy wake of a water skier.  I want to call them mergansers - but I'm not sure we have them in this country.  Maybe someone will suggest the right name?  They're not mallards but they, like the mallards, are full of the joys …

I already want a camera that will take a longer lens, the 40X zoom on this one could not quite reach their joy.  And a table top tripod to sit on my bedroom windowseat - lacking foresight, I gave one away to the charity shop in the move as I never used it.

Many thanks for the Blip/birthday cheer, I think I've got back to most folks' journals individually to thank you (old-style Blip courtesy).   I decided today to not post much for a bit as I've had a long streak of half-hearted images and words just wanting to get past the next milestone.  I'm not going anywhere but I'll take a backseat as cheerleader/commentor/viewer till time and energy return.  Oh and the IKEA trip was a real pleasure in bright sunlight. The joy of wandering through orderly 'dressed' rooms made me realise I'd have some degree of order here at home in the not too distant future.