{"id":113515,"date":"2023-05-21T02:42:20","date_gmt":"2023-05-21T08:42:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=113515"},"modified":"2023-05-21T02:45:19","modified_gmt":"2023-05-21T08:45:19","slug":"ruddy-duck-shaking-in-morning-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/05\/21\/ruddy-duck-shaking-in-morning-light\/","title":{"rendered":"Ruddy Duck shaking in morning light"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last month, when I took this photo of a male Ruddy Duck shaking at my local pond, I liked the way the light illuminated the lower part of his wings.<\/p>\n

\"DrakeDrake Ruddy Duck shaking in morning light \u2013 Nikon D500, tripod mounted, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes, there is just one thing in my photos that makes me appreciate and enjoy them. Sure, I liked his pose, loved that he was in breeding plumage when I took this photo, and the light was lovely. All of that was great that morning, but what really appealed to me was the light shining on and through his wing feathers.<\/p>\n

This Ruddy Duck<\/span><\/a> had been at my local pond for months, along with a female. After I took this image and other photos of him at the end of April, I couldn’t find him again. The pair might have moved on to find a better location to build a nest. I am not sure. I do know that I was thrilled to have them in my viewfinder so close to home.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Last month, when I took this photo of a male Ruddy Duck shaking at my local pond, I liked the way the light illuminated the lower part of his wings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":113512,"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":[27,2397,709,26],"tags":[4053,4753,4483,1129,126,4062,2398,10698,1984,2447,4502,165,8018,3996,5498],"class_list":["post-113515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-ruddy-ducks","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-diving-ducks","tag-drake","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-male","tag-oxyura-jamaicensis","tag-park","tag-pond","tag-ruddy-duck","tag-shaking","tag-spring","tag-urban","tag-water","tag-wings"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/ruddy-duck-spring-wing-flap-mia-mcpherson-4795.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-twT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":119932,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/01\/19\/drake-ruddy-duck-in-early-breeding-plumage\/","url_meta":{"origin":113515,"position":0},"title":"Drake Ruddy Duck In Early Breeding Plumage","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 19, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been paying a lot of attention to a drake Ruddy Duck at my local pond because he has gone into breeding plumage earlier than is normal for this species.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake Ruddy Duck almost in breeding plumage, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/ruddy-duck-drake-getting-his-colors-on-mia-mcpherson-1969.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/ruddy-duck-drake-getting-his-colors-on-mia-mcpherson-1969.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/ruddy-duck-drake-getting-his-colors-on-mia-mcpherson-1969.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/ruddy-duck-drake-getting-his-colors-on-mia-mcpherson-1969.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":109661,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/01\/17\/ruddy-duck-drake-close-to-home\/","url_meta":{"origin":113515,"position":1},"title":"Ruddy Duck Drake Close To Home","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 17, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The last time I was at my neighborhood pond I spotted a Ruddy Duck drake out in the middle of the water who was starting to transition into breeding plumage.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Urban Ruddy Duck drake, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/ruddy-duck-drake-adult-mia-mcpherson-1632.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/ruddy-duck-drake-adult-mia-mcpherson-1632.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/ruddy-duck-drake-adult-mia-mcpherson-1632.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/ruddy-duck-drake-adult-mia-mcpherson-1632.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":119186,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/12\/18\/ruddy-duck-drake-what-a-difference-20-days-makes\/","url_meta":{"origin":113515,"position":2},"title":"Ruddy Duck Drake – What A Difference 20 Days Makes","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 18, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Just 20 days can make a big difference in the way this Ruddy Duck drake looks. His bill is a lot bluer now than it was when I first saw him at my local pond.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ruddy Duck drake on December 15, 2023, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/ruddy-duck-adult-male-december-mia-mcpherson-0364.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/ruddy-duck-adult-male-december-mia-mcpherson-0364.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/ruddy-duck-adult-male-december-mia-mcpherson-0364.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/ruddy-duck-adult-male-december-mia-mcpherson-0364.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":118573,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/26\/urban-ruddy-duck-drake\/","url_meta":{"origin":113515,"position":3},"title":"Urban Ruddy Duck Drake","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 26, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Even though it was windy yesterday afternoon, I spent a few minutes with a Ruddy Duck drake in my viewfinder at my local pond. I hoped that he would get closer.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Urban drake Ruddy Duck, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ruddy-duck-drake-nonbreeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-8688.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ruddy-duck-drake-nonbreeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-8688.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ruddy-duck-drake-nonbreeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-8688.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ruddy-duck-drake-nonbreeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-8688.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":112996,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/04\/28\/drake-ruddy-duck-and-his-sky-blue-bill\/","url_meta":{"origin":113515,"position":4},"title":"Drake Ruddy Duck And His Sky Blue Bill","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning, I had a real treat photographing a drake Ruddy Duck close to home. 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