{"id":108145,"date":"2022-11-19T04:46:55","date_gmt":"2022-11-19T11:46:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=108145"},"modified":"2022-11-19T04:54:18","modified_gmt":"2022-11-19T11:54:18","slug":"drake-mallard-and-reflections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/11\/19\/drake-mallard-and-reflections\/","title":{"rendered":"Drake Mallard And Reflections"},"content":{"rendered":"

This morning I am sharing a simple drake Mallard photo taken at my local pond. I liked this image because of the reflections of the duck, light pole and leaf.<\/p>\n

\"DrakeDrake Mallard reflections \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 70-300mm VR at 300mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I noticed the drake Mallard first because of how handsome he was in breeding plumage. I spotted the drake’s neat, squiggly reflection in the water as I raised my camera to snap a photo of the duck.<\/p>\n

I chose this image of the Mallard to share because, when I first saw it on my monitor, the reflection of the blobby double eye made me laugh out loud.<\/p>\n

In addition, I also liked how a light pole was reflected on the water because that reflection seemed to point the drake Mallard out. Some people might not care for that light pole reflection, I don’t mind it at all.\u00a0 In urban areas there are going to be times that human made items will show up in my photos even though it might just be a reflection.<\/p>\n

Finally, I liked the single cottonwood leaf and the reflection of its stem floating on the water in front of the drake Mallard<\/span><\/a>. The leaf reminds me of a sundial.<\/p>\n

When I look at this image I just have to smile.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

This morning I am sharing a simple drake Mallard photo taken at my local pond. I liked this image because of the reflections of the duck, light pole and leaf.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":108141,"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":[27,965,709,26],"tags":[4004,4237,970,10494,4717,4483,1129,126,4620,5679,13466,4062,1604,7951,958,8018,3996,2063],"class_list":["post-108145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-mallards","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-anas-platyrhynchos","tag-autumn","tag-cottonwood","tag-dabbling-ducks","tag-drake","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-fall","tag-leaf","tag-light-pole","tag-male","tag-mallard","tag-mallards","tag-reflections","tag-urban","tag-water","tag-waterfowl"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/mallard-reflection-leaf-mia-mcpherson-3767.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-s8h","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":107402,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/10\/20\/jordan-river-mallard-drake\/","url_meta":{"origin":108145,"position":0},"title":"Jordan River Mallard Drake","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I took this low light Mallard drake photo yesterday while I walked along the Jordan River in the chill of the early morning.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Jordan River Mallard drake in low light, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/mallard-drake-jordan-river-mia-mcpherson-1334.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/mallard-drake-jordan-river-mia-mcpherson-1334.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/mallard-drake-jordan-river-mia-mcpherson-1334.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/mallard-drake-jordan-river-mia-mcpherson-1334.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":28085,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/09\/02\/drake-mallards-in-breeding-and-eclipse-plumage\/","url_meta":{"origin":108145,"position":1},"title":"Drake Mallards in Breeding and Eclipse Plumage","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I was able to photograph a Mallard drake as it lifted off from the water on the south side 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 Mallard in eclipse plumage, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mallard-drake-flight-mia-mcpherson-3314.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mallard-drake-flight-mia-mcpherson-3314.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mallard-drake-flight-mia-mcpherson-3314.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mallard-drake-flight-mia-mcpherson-3314.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49531,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/11\/22\/drake-mallards-bathing-and-splashing\/","url_meta":{"origin":108145,"position":2},"title":"Drake Mallards Bathing and Splashing","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"After bathing the Mallards lift up, flap their wings and shake the water off and I have also noticed them repeat the process of bathing several times in succession. Bathe, shake, flap.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake Mallard bathing and splashing, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/mallard-drake-bathing-mia-mcpherson-7767.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/mallard-drake-bathing-mia-mcpherson-7767.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/mallard-drake-bathing-mia-mcpherson-7767.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/mallard-drake-bathing-mia-mcpherson-7767.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":110126,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/02\/09\/calling-mallard-drake-in-the-city\/","url_meta":{"origin":108145,"position":3},"title":"Calling Mallard Drake In The City","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 9, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I enjoy photographing even the most abundant ducks at my local city ponds. I simply couldn't resist taking images of this calling Mallard drake two days ago.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Calling Mallard drake on an urban pond, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/mallard-drake-open-bill-mia-mcphersonn-2002.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/mallard-drake-open-bill-mia-mcphersonn-2002.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/mallard-drake-open-bill-mia-mcphersonn-2002.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/mallard-drake-open-bill-mia-mcphersonn-2002.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mallard-drake-flight-mia-mcpherson-4224.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mallard-drake-flight-mia-mcpherson-4224.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mallard-drake-flight-mia-mcpherson-4224.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/mallard-drake-flight-mia-mcpherson-4224.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48239,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/08\/24\/landing-drake-mallard\/","url_meta":{"origin":108145,"position":5},"title":"Landing Drake Mallard","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 24, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't often have the opportunity of 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