{"id":101987,"date":"2022-04-30T04:31:24","date_gmt":"2022-04-30T10:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=101987"},"modified":"2022-04-30T04:31:24","modified_gmt":"2022-04-30T10:31:24","slug":"spring-gadwall-drake-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/04\/30\/spring-gadwall-drake-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring Gadwall Drake Photos"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DisplayingDisplaying Gadwall drake in a marsh \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This morning I am sharing two simple Gadwall drake photos that I took last spring from the auto tour route at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a>. In this first photo the Gadwall drake was displaying for a female who was nearly hidden. The Gadwall hen did come out into the open a few times but I was more focused on the behavior of the male.<\/p>\n

These dabbling ducks are year round residents in in parts of northern Utah but surprisingly I don’t have as many photos of Gadwalls as I would like to have in my galleries.<\/p>\n

\"AlertAlert Gadwall drake about to lift off \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I took at least a hundred photos of this Gadwall drake as he displayed for the hen. I loved how the bright blue sky reflected on the water and mixed in with the reflected golden hues of the nearby vegetation.<\/p>\n

This second photo shows the drake Gadwall<\/span><\/a> milliseconds before he lifted off from the marsh. As I recall another vehicle passed by which startled both the hen and the drake.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Gadwall photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This morning I am sharing two simple Gadwall drake photos that I took last spring from the auto tour route at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":101978,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,27,1148,963,26],"tags":[4004,4540,4717,779,4483,1129,126,607,10576,4282,4062,971,4094,165,3996,2063,4095],"class_list":["post-101987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-gadwalls","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-alert","tag-dabbling-ducks","tag-displaying","tag-drake","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-gadwall","tag-gadwalls","tag-lift-off","tag-male","tag-mareca-strepera","tag-marsh","tag-spring","tag-water","tag-waterfowl","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/gadwall-drake-displaying-mia-mcpherson-0745.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-qwX","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":126007,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/03\/26\/drake-gadwall-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":101987,"position":0},"title":"Drake Gadwall At Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The last time I drove up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, I was delighted to have this drake Gadwall in my viewfinder on the last leg of the auto tour loop.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake Gadwall at Bear River MBR, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-marsh-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-0997.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-marsh-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-0997.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-marsh-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-0997.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-marsh-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-0997.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":75000,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/10\/30\/drake-gadwalls-are-elegant-dabbling-ducks\/","url_meta":{"origin":101987,"position":1},"title":"Drake Gadwalls Are Elegant Dabbling Ducks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 30, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't have nearly enough Gadwall photos in my portfolios and I honestly don't know why that is the case since they are year round residents here in northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake Gadwall resting on a pond, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-in-pond-mia-mcpherson-0200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-in-pond-mia-mcpherson-0200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-in-pond-mia-mcpherson-0200.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-in-pond-mia-mcpherson-0200.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":127409,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/04\/10\/gadwall-in-multicolored-reflections\/","url_meta":{"origin":101987,"position":2},"title":"Gadwall In Multicolored Reflections","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This Gadwall photo from last spring is the photo I decided to share this morning. It was taken at my local pond where the multicolored reflections appeal to me.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake Gadwall in multicolored reflections, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/gadwall-multicolored-reflections-mia-mcpherson-2664.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/gadwall-multicolored-reflections-mia-mcpherson-2664.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/gadwall-multicolored-reflections-mia-mcpherson-2664.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/gadwall-multicolored-reflections-mia-mcpherson-2664.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":27496,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/08\/18\/it-is-getting-duckier-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":101987,"position":3},"title":"It is Getting Duckier at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the past couple of weeks I have noticed that Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge is getting duckier. I am seeing more ducks in the water and flying over head now than I had in July.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Slightly odd looking Redhead, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/redhead-drake-mia-mcpherson-8002.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/redhead-drake-mia-mcpherson-8002.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/redhead-drake-mia-mcpherson-8002.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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McPherson","date":"January 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Several of the Gadwalls were tipping their heads under the water to feed when this drake started to flap his wings before settling back down on the water.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake Gadwall flapping his wings, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-wing-flap-mia-mcpherson-7798.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-wing-flap-mia-mcpherson-7798.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-wing-flap-mia-mcpherson-7798.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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