{"id":110126,"date":"2023-02-09T05:01:47","date_gmt":"2023-02-09T12:01:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=110126"},"modified":"2023-02-09T05:01:47","modified_gmt":"2023-02-09T12:01:47","slug":"calling-mallard-drake-in-the-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/02\/09\/calling-mallard-drake-in-the-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Calling Mallard Drake In The City"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

\"CallingCalling Mallard drake on an urban pond \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

My position for photographing this Mallard<\/span><\/a> drake was perfection. The light angle I had seemed to intensify the vibrant green plumage of the drake’s head tenfold. I don’t think his head could have looked any greener than it did that bright winter morning.<\/p>\n

While I was taking photos of the Mallard drake a man with a dog walked close to the eastern edge of the pond which stirred up all of the ducks including this drake. The drake called when I snapped this image.<\/p>\n

I had all kinds of funny ideas for captioning this photo but in the end decided that a simple title was best.<\/p>\n

Female Mallards quack when they call. Male Mallards have a raspier call than females. The differences can be heard on AllAboutBirds.org<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

These urban Mallards have been courting for weeks now. When it gets a bit warmer these dabbling ducks will find nesting spots nearby, even in the city. They often nest in people’s yards near the ponds or along the Jordan River Parkway Trail.<\/p>\n

I loved having this handsome drake Mallard in my viewfinder. I was outside on a sunny morning so my day was great!<\/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":"

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":110123,"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":[4237,5552,4072,13665,4717,4483,1129,126,4062,1604,7951,6733,1984,8018,3996,2063,373],"class_list":["post-110126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-mallards","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-anas-platyrhynchos","tag-bill","tag-calling","tag-city","tag-dabbling-ducks","tag-drake","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-male","tag-mallard","tag-mallards","tag-open","tag-pond","tag-urban","tag-water","tag-waterfowl","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/mallard-drake-open-bill-mia-mcphersonn-2002.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-sEe","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":109334,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/01\/05\/dapper-mallard-drake-in-snow\/","url_meta":{"origin":110126,"position":0},"title":"Dapper Mallard Drake In Snow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 5, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"After I photographed the handsome Gadwall drake that I shared yesterday I couldn't resist taking images of this alert and dapper Mallard drake in the snow.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dapper Mallard drake in snow, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/mallard-drake-dapper-snow-mia-mcpherson-7562.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/mallard-drake-dapper-snow-mia-mcpherson-7562.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/mallard-drake-dapper-snow-mia-mcpherson-7562.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/mallard-drake-dapper-snow-mia-mcpherson-7562.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":119683,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/01\/14\/male-mallard-resting-in-snow-connections\/","url_meta":{"origin":110126,"position":1},"title":"Male Mallard Resting In Snow – Connections","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 14, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I visited my local ponds yesterday even though the sky was gray, and snow was falling. While I was there, I photographed this male Mallard resting in the snow.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Mallard watching me photographing him, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/mallard-drake-snow-mia-mcpherson-2390.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/mallard-drake-snow-mia-mcpherson-2390.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/mallard-drake-snow-mia-mcpherson-2390.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/mallard-drake-snow-mia-mcpherson-2390.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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2019","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge a few days ago I saw lots of ducks in the marshes and on the water and I realized that I am looking forward to photographing winter ducks again.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mallard drake flying in to land, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mallard-male-landing-mia-mcpherson-7237.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-male-landing-mia-mcpherson-7237.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mallard-male-landing-mia-mcpherson-7237.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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neighborhood ponds yesterday morning while there was some sunshine and my favorite image of the day was simply a duck on a rock.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mallard on a rock, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/mallard-drake-on-a-rock-mia-mcpherson-8489.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/mallard-drake-on-a-rock-mia-mcpherson-8489.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/mallard-drake-on-a-rock-mia-mcpherson-8489.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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