Redhead drake portrait, Salt Lake County, UtahRedhead drake portrait – Nikon D300, tripod mounted, f8, 1/320, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited

The sun came out for a few hours yesterday afternoon so I went to a pond near where I live and photographed some of the ducks including this very confiding Redhead drake. The drake came so close at times that I opted to take portraits of him. I like how this Redhead drake portrait shows the fine details in the feathers, the duck’s eye, and gives me a close look at the bill.

Redheads are medium sized diving ducks and they do breed in Utah. This drake is in his breeding plumage and I suspect that it won’t be long before he and others of his kind have mating on their minds.

An interesting tidbit of information is that many female Redheads lay their eggs in the nests of other ducks instead of making nests of their own.

It was SO delightful to see the sun shining along with big open skies and a few fluffy clouds for a bit yesterday. I needed that “pick me up”.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Redhead duck photos plus facts and information about this species.