{"id":119515,"date":"2024-01-04T04:01:43","date_gmt":"2024-01-04T11:01:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=119515"},"modified":"2024-01-13T03:19:59","modified_gmt":"2024-01-13T10:19:59","slug":"fun-drake-mallard-at-bear-river-mbr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/01\/04\/fun-drake-mallard-at-bear-river-mbr\/","title":{"rendered":"Fun Drake Mallard At Bear River MBR"},"content":{"rendered":"

On New Year’s Day morning, I had fun photographing a drake Mallard from the auto tour loop of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> as he lifted off from the marsh.<\/p>\n

\"NewNew Year’s Day Mallard drake at Bear River MBR \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1600, ISO 1250, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I’m not convinced that this drake Mallard is 100% wild. He looks as if there may be some domesticated Mallard genes in his DNA profile. He just seemed a little plumper than the completely wild Mallards I am used to seeing at the refuge.<\/p>\n

Whatever his genetic background was, I still had fun photographing him as he squatted down in preparation to lifting off from the ice.<\/p>\n

\"MallardMallard drake lifting off from ice \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1600, ISO 1250, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

To my surprise, in the next frame, I was able to photograph the drake with his wings lifted and his webbed feet still planted firmly on the ice. I thought that this pose looked slightly comical, but that might just be my sense of humor coming out.<\/p>\n

\"DrakeDrake Mallard in flight on New Year’s Day \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1600, ISO 1250, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Two frames later, the drake Mallard was in the air above the ice-covered marsh. There was something funny about this individual photo that made me giggle. The Mallard just kind of looked happy to me.<\/p>\n

Yeah, yeah, I know, that is anthropomorphic<\/span><\/a>. Well, I am only human after all. Part of my storytelling is writing about what I was thinking or feeling at the time, and that is what I was thinking when I took this photo of the drake Mallard.<\/p>\n

Today it has been 6 months since my mom died. I miss her so much. She would want me to find my joy and I do with birds, my family, and my true friends that wrap their arms around me even from many miles away.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

On New Year’s Day morning, I had fun photographing a drake Mallard from the auto tour loop of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge as he lifted off from the marsh.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":119507,"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":[124,27,1148,965,26],"tags":[4004,4237,14512,4007,4008,4053,6330,4483,126,4052,4122,4064,4944,4062,1604,7951,4094,6924,5428,30,3996,2063,4095,373],"class_list":["post-119515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-mallards","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-anas-platyrhynchos","tag-bear-river-mbr","tag-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","tag-box-elder-county","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-dabbling-duck","tag-drake","tag-ducks-2","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-ice","tag-lifting-off","tag-male","tag-mallard","tag-mallards","tag-marsh","tag-new-years-day","tag-taking-off","tag-utah-2","tag-water","tag-waterfowl","tag-wetlands","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/mallard-drake-flight-funny-mia-mcpherson-0815.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-v5F","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28085,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/09\/02\/drake-mallards-in-breeding-and-eclipse-plumage\/","url_meta":{"origin":119515,"position":0},"title":"Drake Mallards in Breeding and Eclipse Plumage","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I was able to photograph a Mallard drake as it lifted off from the water on the south side of the auto tour loop.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake Mallard in eclipse plumage, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mallard-drake-flight-mia-mcpherson-3314.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mallard-drake-flight-mia-mcpherson-3314.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mallard-drake-flight-mia-mcpherson-3314.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mallard-drake-flight-mia-mcpherson-3314.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":40219,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/06\/28\/mallard-hen-with-duckling-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":119515,"position":1},"title":"Mallard Hen with Duckling at Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Because I was close I wasn't able to get a single image with all of the ducklings and the hen in the frame so I focused on the Mallard hen and with one duckling resting right behind her.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mallard hen with duckling, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/mallard-hen-duckling-mia-mcpherson-9146.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/mallard-hen-duckling-mia-mcpherson-9146.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/mallard-hen-duckling-mia-mcpherson-9146.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/mallard-hen-duckling-mia-mcpherson-9146.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100612,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/12\/ducks-on-the-wing-over-the-marsh-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":119515,"position":2},"title":"Ducks On The Wing Over The Marsh At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 12, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I took this photo of ducks on the wing over the marsh on my most recent trip up to the wetlands of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.","rel":"","context":"In "American Wigeons"","block_context":{"text":"American Wigeons","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/ducks\/american-wigeons\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ducks on the wing over the marsh at Bear River MBR, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/mallard-northern-shoveler-pintail-wigeon-gw-teal-in-flight-mia-mcpherson-0540.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/mallard-northern-shoveler-pintail-wigeon-gw-teal-in-flight-mia-mcpherson-0540.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/mallard-northern-shoveler-pintail-wigeon-gw-teal-in-flight-mia-mcpherson-0540.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/mallard-northern-shoveler-pintail-wigeon-gw-teal-in-flight-mia-mcpherson-0540.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":119471,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/01\/03\/drake-northern-pintail-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":119515,"position":3},"title":"Drake Northern Pintail At Bear River MBR On New Year’s Day","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I was thrilled to find and photograph a handsome drake Northern Pintail out on the auto tour loop of Bear River MBR on New Year's Day morning.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake Northern Pintail shaking his feathers, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/northern-pintail-drake-new-years-day-mia-mcpherson-1004.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/northern-pintail-drake-new-years-day-mia-mcpherson-1004.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/northern-pintail-drake-new-years-day-mia-mcpherson-1004.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/northern-pintail-drake-new-years-day-mia-mcpherson-1004.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":61339,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/11\/12\/im-looking-forward-to-photographing-winter-ducks\/","url_meta":{"origin":119515,"position":4},"title":"I’m Looking Forward To Photographing Winter Ducks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 12, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge a few days ago I saw lots of ducks in the marshes and on the water and I realized that I am looking forward to photographing winter ducks again.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mallard drake flying in to land, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mallard-male-landing-mia-mcpherson-7237.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mallard-male-landing-mia-mcpherson-7237.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mallard-male-landing-mia-mcpherson-7237.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/mallard-male-landing-mia-mcpherson-7237.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100485,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/08\/drake-northern-pintail-lift-off-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":119515,"position":5},"title":"Drake Northern Pintail Lift Off Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 8, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I drove up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge yesterday morning and came home with some drake Northern Pintail lift off images that I am pleased with.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake Northern Pintail lifting off from water, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/northern-pintail-drake-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0058.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/northern-pintail-drake-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0058.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/northern-pintail-drake-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0058.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/northern-pintail-drake-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0058.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\/119515","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=119515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}