{"id":119064,"date":"2023-12-17T04:07:38","date_gmt":"2023-12-17T11:07:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=119064"},"modified":"2023-12-17T04:07:38","modified_gmt":"2023-12-17T11:07:38","slug":"resting-redhead-drake-on-an-urban-pond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/12\/17\/resting-redhead-drake-on-an-urban-pond\/","title":{"rendered":"Resting Redhead Drake On An Urban Pond"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today I am sharing a simple photo of a resting Redhead drake that I saw at my local pond two days ago. The red-headed duck appeared to be keeping an eye on me. He probably wasn’t, but it did look that way.<\/p>\n

\"RestingResting Redhead drake \u2013 Nikon D500, tripod mounted, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Redhead ducks are year-round residents in northern Utah. At my local pond, they are absent during the breeding season, but these ducks start showing up again in the fall. I always enjoy seeing this species, whether at my local pond, in the marshes surrounding the Great Salt Lake, or in rafts of thousands on the coasts in winter. I used to see huge rafts of them on the Gulf Coast when I lived in Florida.<\/p>\n

This Redhead was the first bird I photographed two days ago before I was mesmerized by the murmuration of European Starlings<\/span><\/a>. Even though he was resting, I could see his bright orange eye, and his resting posture relaxed me.<\/p>\n

There has been another drake<\/span><\/a> and hen Redhead at this pond, although I didn’t see them two days ago. They could have been easily hiding from my sight in the pondside vegetation, which during the last couple of years has grown out of control.<\/p>\n

What I like about this Redhead drake photo is his relaxed posture and being able to see his eye. I also enjoy the bright blue sky reflected on the water, and how the out-of-focus Mallards give a nice sense of depth to this image.<\/p>\n

Later on in the morning, this Redhead<\/span><\/a> drake floated out to the middle of the water to move away from some fishermen who arrived at the edge of the pond. I hope he and the other Redheads stick around for the winter.<\/p>\n

In just a few weeks, the drakes should start their breeding displays, which are always fun to see and photograph.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Today I am sharing a simple photo of a resting Redhead drake that I saw at my local pond two days ago. The red-headed duck appeared to be keeping an eye on me. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":119060,"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":[27,2460,709,26],"tags":[4004,2461,4753,4483,1129,126,4062,14607,1984,4560,4156,3973,8018,30,3996,373],"class_list":["post-119064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-redheads","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-aythya-americana","tag-diving-ducks","tag-drake","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-male","tag-orange-eye","tag-pond","tag-redhead","tag-resting","tag-salt-lake-county","tag-urban","tag-utah-2","tag-water","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/redhead-drake-resting-mia-mcpherson-9728.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-uYo","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":107795,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/11\/07\/redhead-ducks-at-my-local-pond\/","url_meta":{"origin":119064,"position":0},"title":"Redhead Ducks At My Local Pond","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 7, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I took a brief walk at my local pond and was thrilled to see a small flock of Redhead ducks resting together on the surface of the pond.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Redhead drake flapping his wings on an urban pond, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/redhead-drake-flapping-wings-mia-mcpherson-3202.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/redhead-drake-flapping-wings-mia-mcpherson-3202.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/redhead-drake-flapping-wings-mia-mcpherson-3202.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/redhead-drake-flapping-wings-mia-mcpherson-3202.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":118491,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/23\/fall-redhead-drake-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":119064,"position":1},"title":"Fall Redhead Drake Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 23, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"On a cold morning two days ago, I had two Redhead drakes in my viewfinder at my local pond. the light was lovely and so were the ducks.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Redhead drakes fighting over food, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/redhead-drakes-autumn-pond-mia-mcpherson-8373.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/redhead-drakes-autumn-pond-mia-mcpherson-8373.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/redhead-drakes-autumn-pond-mia-mcpherson-8373.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/redhead-drakes-autumn-pond-mia-mcpherson-8373.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14314,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/02\/11\/redhead-drake-portrait\/","url_meta":{"origin":119064,"position":2},"title":"Redhead drake portrait","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The sun came out for a few hours yesterday afternoon so I went to a pond near where I live and photographed some of the ducks including this very confiding Redhead drake.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Redhead drake portrait, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/redhead-duck-portrait-mia-mcpherson-9081.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/redhead-duck-portrait-mia-mcpherson-9081.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/redhead-duck-portrait-mia-mcpherson-9081.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/redhead-duck-portrait-mia-mcpherson-9081.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":19426,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/02\/04\/redheads-in-salt-lake-county\/","url_meta":{"origin":119064,"position":3},"title":"Redhead Ducks in Salt Lake County","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 4, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Last February; when there was actually snow on the ground, I photographed a pair of Redhead ducks at a pond near where I live.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Diving Redhead hen, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/redhead-hen-diving-mia-mcpherson-8911.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/redhead-hen-diving-mia-mcpherson-8911.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/redhead-hen-diving-mia-mcpherson-8911.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/redhead-hen-diving-mia-mcpherson-8911.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":113571,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/05\/27\/spring-drake-redhead-in-a-dive\/","url_meta":{"origin":119064,"position":4},"title":"Spring Drake Redhead In A Dive","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 27, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I meant to share this photo of a Drake Redhead diving weeks ago, but when the loons arrived at my local pond, I completely forgot that I had processed it.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake Redhead in a dive, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/redhead-drake-diving-mia-mcpherson-7637.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/redhead-drake-diving-mia-mcpherson-7637.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/redhead-drake-diving-mia-mcpherson-7637.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/redhead-drake-diving-mia-mcpherson-7637.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":108213,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/11\/24\/three-drake-redhead-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":119064,"position":5},"title":"Three Drake Redhead Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I am sharing three drake Redhead photos that I took at my local pond two evenings ago before the golden light of sunset had started to glow.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake Redhead stretching","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/redhead-drake-adult-stretching-mia-mcpherson-4310.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/redhead-drake-adult-stretching-mia-mcpherson-4310.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/redhead-drake-adult-stretching-mia-mcpherson-4310.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/redhead-drake-adult-stretching-mia-mcpherson-4310.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\/119064","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=119064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119064\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}