{"id":111309,"date":"2023-03-18T02:59:40","date_gmt":"2023-03-18T08:59:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=111309"},"modified":"2023-03-18T03:00:55","modified_gmt":"2023-03-18T09:00:55","slug":"american-wigeon-portraits-i-see-spats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/18\/american-wigeon-portraits-i-see-spats\/","title":{"rendered":"American Wigeon Portraits – I See Spats"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

\"DrakeDrake American Wigeon portrait \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This first photo, of a drake wigeon, delighted me. The duck was close, feeding, and paying me no mind. His iridescent green and bronze patch behind his eye glowed softly in the morning light as he foraged on the frosty grass. The catch light in his eye sparkled. Along with all of those things, I had a great view of his bill too.<\/p>\n

\"HenHen American Wigeon portrait \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

After I photographed the drake the hen American Wigeon moved closer to me. Even though she wasn’t as flashy as the male, her subtle beauty captivated me. Like the drake, I had a great view of her eye as she foraged on the grasses. I noticed that the color pattern on her bill was slightly different than the bill of the male.<\/p>\n

It was at that moment that I saw spats. No, the ducks weren’t having a spat. Both of their bills looked like they had spats on to me!<\/p>\n

I’m not referring to a spat between people, animals or even ducks. Nope.<\/p>\n

\"Spats\"In Public domain, Claude Rains wearing spats in 1912 Wikipedia<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

What is a spat?<\/h2>\n

In case you didn’t know, I am referring to the spats<\/span><\/a> that were a type of accessory worn over shoes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They were designed to protect shoes from elements and add a fashionable touch to formal attire. Spats were made of fabric or leather, fitted around the ankle and lower calf, and fastened with buttons or straps. See the photo above.<\/p>\n

For the life of me, I can’t unsee the spats. Really, I’ve tried. I am going to need some serious mental scrubbing to unsee the spats that I am seeing on the faces of these American Wigeons!<\/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":"

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":111302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[6312,27,89,709,26],"tags":[4004,6313,4142,4717,4483,1129,126,4070,4359,4062,6314,10698,1984,4046,13752,13751,8018,6315,6316,373],"class_list":["post-111309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-wigeons","category-avian","category-humor","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-american-wigeon","tag-close-up","tag-dabbling-ducks","tag-drake","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-female","tag-hen","tag-male","tag-mareca-americana","tag-park","tag-pond","tag-portrait","tag-spat","tag-spats","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-drake-close-up-mia-mcpherson-5693.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-sXj","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":50724,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/01\/19\/photographing-american-wigeon-drakes-in-afternoon-and-low-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":111309,"position":0},"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":55694,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/01\/15\/drake-american-wigeon-close-ups-in-afternoon-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":111309,"position":1},"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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-close-up-mia-mcpherson-9100.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":111487,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/23\/american-wigeon-on-the-last-day-of-winter\/","url_meta":{"origin":111309,"position":2},"title":"American Wigeon On The Last Day Of Winter","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 23, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed an American Wigeon drake on the last day of winter at my local pond. 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":110984,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/10\/urban-drake-american-wigeon-in-snow\/","url_meta":{"origin":111309,"position":3},"title":"Urban Drake American Wigeon In Snow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 10, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","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 resting in snow, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-adult-drake-snow-mia-mcpherson-5538.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-adult-drake-snow-mia-mcpherson-5538.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-adult-drake-snow-mia-mcpherson-5538.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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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 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