{"id":111487,"date":"2023-03-23T03:11:14","date_gmt":"2023-03-23T09:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=111487"},"modified":"2023-03-23T03:14:14","modified_gmt":"2023-03-23T09:14:14","slug":"american-wigeon-on-the-last-day-of-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/23\/american-wigeon-on-the-last-day-of-winter\/","title":{"rendered":"American Wigeon On The Last Day Of Winter"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Wigeon drake on the last day of winter \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 1000, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This drake wigeon is in his fine breeding plumage. The green iridescent stripe behind he is stood out like a beacon in the morning light. I’m not a female wigeon but if I were that green might have made my heart go pitter-patter.\u00a0 This drake already seems to be paired up with a lovely hen that was swimming in the water nearby.<\/p>\n

It isn’t likely that the pair of American Wigeons<\/span><\/a> will nest on this pond. The pond is small and there is a lot of human foot traffic. It would surprise me if they stick around for too much longer.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Wigeon drake in morning light \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/500, ISO 1000, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

As the drake wigeon swam around on the last day of winter I was able to photograph him in several different areas of the pond. In this photo the reflections of shrubs on the side of the pond gave the water a brownish-gold hue. The green on the drake’s head stood out seemed to glow against the darker water.<\/p>\n

I’m still seeing spats on the bills of the wigeons<\/span><\/a> that I wrote about the last time I shared photos of this species. My pareidolia seems to have hit high gear about 10 years ago and it won’t stop!<\/p>\n

What is pareidolia?<\/h2>\n

From Wikipedia: Pareidolia is a type of apophenia involving the perception of images or sounds in random stimuli. A common example is the perception of a face within an inanimate object\u2014the headlights and grill of an automobile may appear to be “grinning”. People around the world see the “Man in the Moon”.<\/p>\n

Me? I see spats on the faces of this species. I also see stylized wolves on the bills of Mallards. I see things in things.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":111481,"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":[6312,27,522,26],"tags":[4004,6313,4717,4483,1129,126,4062,6314,4099,12561,10698,1984,8018,3996,2063,6315,6316,373],"class_list":["post-111487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-wigeons","category-avian","category-salt-lake-valley","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-american-wigeon","tag-dabbling-ducks","tag-drake","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-male","tag-mareca-americana","tag-morning-light","tag-pareidolia","tag-park","tag-pond","tag-urban","tag-water","tag-waterfowl","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-pond-mia-mcpherson-6491.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-t0b","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":111487,"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, 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":50538,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/01\/07\/american-wigeon-pair-in-northern-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":111487,"position":1},"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 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":110984,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/10\/urban-drake-american-wigeon-in-snow\/","url_meta":{"origin":111487,"position":2},"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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-wigeon-adult-drake-snow-mia-mcpherson-5538.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":75507,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/11\/25\/hen-and-drake-american-wigeon-pair-close-to-home\/","url_meta":{"origin":111487,"position":3},"title":"Hen And Drake American Wigeons Close To Home","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 25, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Among the duck species I look for during the winter are American Wigeons which are medium sized dabbling ducks.","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 and hen American Wigeons, Salt Lake County, 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":111487,"position":4},"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":111309,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/18\/american-wigeon-portraits-i-see-spats\/","url_meta":{"origin":111487,"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\/111487","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=111487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}