{"id":110984,"date":"2023-03-10T03:15:13","date_gmt":"2023-03-10T10:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=110984"},"modified":"2023-03-11T03:40:39","modified_gmt":"2023-03-11T10:40:39","slug":"urban-drake-american-wigeon-in-snow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/10\/urban-drake-american-wigeon-in-snow\/","title":{"rendered":"Urban Drake American Wigeon In Snow"},"content":{"rendered":"

The sun came out for a bit yesterday so I went down to my local urban ponds. I was tickled to find and photograph a drake American Wigeon resting in the snow.<\/p>\n

\"DrakeDrake American Wigeon resting in snow \u2013 Nikon D500, f9, 1\/400, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The wigeon within easy reach of my lens. Because it was, I was able take full frame images of him without moving my Jeep.<\/p>\n

In addition to my close proximity to the wigeon, I had lovely morning light.\u00a0 To my delight the drake also turned his head a few times which caused the iridescence behind his eye to glow. The light blanket of fresh snow on the ground even covered the piles of pooh. There are plenty of other ducks and geese that leave that green manure in the area.<\/p>\n

American Wigeons<\/span><\/a> can be found in northern Utah year round. My best, and most memorable, experiences with this species have been during the winter.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Wigeon drake with snow on his bill \u2013 Nikon D500, f9, 1\/400, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Prior to taking the first photo I took this image of the drake wigeon. At first I wasn’t going to include this image in this post at all. The thing is, I liked the bits of snow the wigeon had on its bill. Because of the lighter colored background, that snow didn’t show in the top image. The dark feathers of the out of focus hen Mallard in the frame helped that snow to show.<\/p>\n

Note:<\/h2>\n

While I would have liked better light on the back and tail of the drake, I worked with the light I had.<\/p>\n

Not long after I took these photos the wigeon stood up and flew out onto the pond. I thanked the wigeon, turned my Jeep on, and went to look for other birds.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

The sun came out for a bit yesterday so I went down to my local urban ponds. I was tickled to find and photograph a drake American Wigeon resting in the snow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":110979,"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":[6312,27,709,26],"tags":[4004,6313,5552,4053,4717,4483,1129,126,4062,6314,10698,1984,4156,4050,8018,6315,6316,373],"class_list":["post-110984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-wigeons","category-avian","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-american-wigeon","tag-bill","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-dabbling-ducks","tag-drake","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-male","tag-mareca-americana","tag-park","tag-pond","tag-resting","tag-snow","tag-urban","tag-wigeon","tag-wigeons","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-adult-drake-snow-mia-mcpherson-5538.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-sS4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":55694,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/01\/15\/drake-american-wigeon-close-ups-in-afternoon-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":110984,"position":0},"title":"Drake American Wigeon Close Ups in Afternoon Light","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 15, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"American Wigeons are here in this area of northern Utah year round but I seem to have my best opportunities with them during the winter. I'm delighted that this drake came in so close.","rel":"","context":"In "American Wigeons"","block_context":{"text":"American Wigeons","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/ducks\/american-wigeons\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Wigeon drake close up, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-close-up-mia-mcpherson-9100.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-close-up-mia-mcpherson-9100.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-close-up-mia-mcpherson-9100.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeons-pair-on-water-mia-mcpherson-2678.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeons-pair-on-water-mia-mcpherson-2678.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeons-pair-on-water-mia-mcpherson-2678.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeons-pair-on-water-mia-mcpherson-2678.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":50724,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/01\/19\/photographing-american-wigeon-drakes-in-afternoon-and-low-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":110984,"position":2},"title":"Photographing American Wigeon Drakes in Afternoon and Low Light","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 19, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I like how both these two American Wigeon photos turned out even though they were taken in different lighting conditions, they are both pleasing to my eye.","rel":"","context":"In "American Wigeons"","block_context":{"text":"American Wigeons","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/ducks\/american-wigeons\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Low light portrait of an American Wigeon drake, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-drake-close-up-mia-mcpherson-2841.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-drake-close-up-mia-mcpherson-2841.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-drake-close-up-mia-mcpherson-2841.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-drake-close-up-mia-mcpherson-2841.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":50538,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/01\/07\/american-wigeon-pair-in-northern-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":110984,"position":3},"title":"American Wigeon Pair In Northern Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 7, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I wonder how long this pair of American Wigeons will hang around, I hope it is long enough for me to see more green iridescence on the drake's head and long enough for me to take more images of them.","rel":"","context":"In "American Wigeons"","block_context":{"text":"American Wigeons","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/ducks\/american-wigeons\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Wigeons in Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-pair-mia-mcpherson-1355.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-pair-mia-mcpherson-1355.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-pair-mia-mcpherson-1355.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-pair-mia-mcpherson-1355.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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The light was nice and lovely but my view of the wigeon was even nicer.","rel":"","context":"In "American Wigeons"","block_context":{"text":"American Wigeons","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/ducks\/american-wigeons\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Wigeon drake on the last day of winter, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-drake-pond-mia-mcpherson-6491.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-drake-pond-mia-mcpherson-6491.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-drake-pond-mia-mcpherson-6491.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-drake-pond-mia-mcpherson-6491.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":111309,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/18\/american-wigeon-portraits-i-see-spats\/","url_meta":{"origin":110984,"position":5},"title":"American Wigeon Portraits – I See Spats","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 18, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning, I am sharing two American Wigeon portraits. I felt fortunate to take them recently at one of my local urban ponds on a frosty, cold morning.","rel":"","context":"In "American Wigeons"","block_context":{"text":"American Wigeons","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/ducks\/american-wigeons\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake American Wigeon portrait, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-drake-close-up-mia-mcpherson-5693.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-drake-close-up-mia-mcpherson-5693.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-drake-close-up-mia-mcpherson-5693.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-drake-close-up-mia-mcpherson-5693.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}