{"id":126007,"date":"2024-03-26T04:16:20","date_gmt":"2024-03-26T10:16:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=126007"},"modified":"2025-05-07T20:22:48","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T01:22:48","slug":"drake-gadwall-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/03\/26\/drake-gadwall-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/","title":{"rendered":"Drake Gadwall At Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"},"content":{"rendered":"

The last time I drove up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a>, I was delighted to have this drake Gadwall in my viewfinder on the last leg of the auto tour loop.<\/p>\n

\"DrakeDrake Gadwall at Bear River MBR – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Gadwalls are year-round residents in Utah, so it surprises me that I don’t have more photos of them in my galleries than I do. I think they are beautiful dabbling ducks, though.<\/p>\n

They are more than “just brown ducks” in my opinion, and I do stop my Jeep to focus on them whenever I have the opportunity.<\/p>\n

I find Gadwalls at Bear River MBR, Farmington Bay, at my local ponds, and the Jordan River when it is running slowly.<\/p>\n

One of the things about Gadwalls that amuses me is that they will hang around American Coots and steal the aquatic vegetation that the coots bring to the surface of the water. The coots sometimes get bothered by them and become quite vocal about it.<\/p>\n

There was a hen Gadwall swimming behind this drake, and by now they should be paired up. Female Gadwalls produce an egg a day while laying their 7 to 12 egg clutches and often nest on islands within marshes for protection from predators.<\/p>\n

Gadwall populations are on the rise, unlike so many other bird species that are in decline.<\/p>\n

What I like about this drake Gadwall photo is the eye contact, the reflection of the drake and the sky on the water, and the beautiful plumage of this duck.<\/p>\n

It is a simple photo and I relish that simplicity. Life today is already too complicated for my tastes most of the time.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

The last time I drove up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, I was delighted to have this drake Gadwall in my viewfinder on the last leg of the auto tour loop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":143290,"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":[124,27,1148,963,26],"tags":[4004,14833,4717,4483,1129,126,607,10576,4062,971,4094,3996,2063,4095,373],"class_list":["post-126007","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-gadwalls","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-brown-ducks","tag-dabbling-ducks","tag-drake","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-gadwall","tag-gadwalls","tag-male","tag-mareca-strepera","tag-marsh","tag-water","tag-waterfowl","tag-wetlands","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-marsh-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-0997.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-wMn","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":101987,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/04\/30\/spring-gadwall-drake-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":126007,"position":0},"title":"Spring Gadwall Drake Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 30, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I am sharing two simple Gadwall drake photos that I took last spring from the auto tour route at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.","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":"Displaying Gadwall drake in a marsh, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/gadwall-drake-displaying-mia-mcpherson-0745.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/gadwall-drake-displaying-mia-mcpherson-0745.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/gadwall-drake-displaying-mia-mcpherson-0745.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/gadwall-drake-displaying-mia-mcpherson-0745.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":75000,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/10\/30\/drake-gadwalls-are-elegant-dabbling-ducks\/","url_meta":{"origin":126007,"position":1},"title":"Drake Gadwalls Are Elegant Dabbling Ducks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 30, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't have nearly enough Gadwall photos in my portfolios and I honestly don't know why that is the case since they are year round residents here in northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake Gadwall resting on a pond, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-in-pond-mia-mcpherson-0200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-in-pond-mia-mcpherson-0200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-in-pond-mia-mcpherson-0200.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-in-pond-mia-mcpherson-0200.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":27496,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/08\/18\/it-is-getting-duckier-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":126007,"position":2},"title":"It is Getting Duckier at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Over the past couple of weeks I have noticed that Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge is getting duckier. I am seeing more ducks in the water and flying over head now than I had in July.","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":"Slightly odd looking Redhead, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/redhead-drake-mia-mcpherson-8002.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-drake-mia-mcpherson-8002.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/redhead-drake-mia-mcpherson-8002.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/redhead-drake-mia-mcpherson-8002.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":127409,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/04\/10\/gadwall-in-multicolored-reflections\/","url_meta":{"origin":126007,"position":3},"title":"Gadwall In Multicolored Reflections","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This Gadwall photo from last spring is the photo I decided to share this morning. It was taken at my local pond where the multicolored reflections appeal to me.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake Gadwall in multicolored reflections, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/gadwall-multicolored-reflections-mia-mcpherson-2664.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/gadwall-multicolored-reflections-mia-mcpherson-2664.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/gadwall-multicolored-reflections-mia-mcpherson-2664.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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I'm sharing photos of a Gadwall drake resting in snow plus a bonus photo of the leucistic American Coot taken yesterday in afternoon light.","rel":"","context":"In "American Coots"","block_context":{"text":"American Coots","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gruiformes\/american-coots\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Gadwall drake resting in snow, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/gadwall-drake-resting-in-snow-mia-mcpherson-7570.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/gadwall-drake-resting-in-snow-mia-mcpherson-7570.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/gadwall-drake-resting-in-snow-mia-mcpherson-7570.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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