{"id":142842,"date":"2025-04-12T02:43:15","date_gmt":"2025-04-12T07:43:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=142842"},"modified":"2025-07-07T12:41:02","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T17:41:02","slug":"blue-winged-teal-drake-at-four-corners-slough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/04\/12\/blue-winged-teal-drake-at-four-corners-slough\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue-winged Teal Drake At Four Corners Slough"},"content":{"rendered":"

This morning I’m sharing a few Blue-winged Teal drake photos that I took a couple of days ago at Four Corners Slough at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge.<\/p>\n

\"Blue-wingedBlue-winged Teal drake close up \u2013 Canon R7, beanbag, f11, 1\/640, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Canon RF 800mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The first photo of this Blue-winged Teal is a close up. Now, if you\u2019ve been following what I write here for a bit, you know I adore taking portraits of my subjects whenever they come in close.<\/p>\n

My delight for close-ups isn\u2019t anything new, I\u2019ve been that way since the bird photography passion was first lit up inside of me.<\/p>\n

Close-up images show fine details that might be missed in photos taken from farther away.<\/p>\n

\"DrakeDrake Blue-winged Teal in breeding plumage \u2013 Canon R7, beanbag, f11, 1\/640, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Canon RF 800mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The thing is, I also enjoy photos that show the whole body of my subjects too. So I was happy when this drake moved farther from me, letting me show off his fine breeding plumage in its full glory.<\/p>\n

I only saw and photographed Blue-winged Teals a few times in Utah. Here in Arkansas and Oklahoma, Blue-winged Teals are around from February through November. Which means I\u2019ll have plenty of opportunities to take more images of them!<\/p>\n

\"Blue-wingedBlue-winged Teal drake on Four Corners Slough \u2013 Canon R7, beanbag, f11, 1\/800, ISO 640, +0.7 EV, Canon RF 800mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The Blue-winged Teals<\/span><\/a> are showing up at many of the sloughs at the refuge, and that has made me one very happy bird photographer.<\/p>\n

The males are especially striking this time of year, with their purplish gray heads and the distinct white crescent on their faces. Their red eyes are pretty appealing too. Next time I\u2019m at the refuge, I plan to focus more on the hens, I\u2019d like more photos of them as well!<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

This morning I’m sharing a few Blue-winged Teal drake photos that I took a couple of days ago at Four Corners Slough at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":142832,"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":[27,7107,13973,13974],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-142842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-blue-winged-teals","category-oklahoma","category-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/blue-winged-teal-drake-spring-mia-mcpherson-4192.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-B9U","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":174483,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/04\/12\/blue-winged-teal-pair-lifting-off\/","url_meta":{"origin":142842,"position":0},"title":"Blue-winged Teal Pair Lifting Off","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 12, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week while sitting at Miner's Cove at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in my vehicle, I focused on a pair of Blue-winged Teal and caught the two of them lifting off from the water.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Blue-winged Teal pair lifting off from Miner's Cove, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/blue-winged-teal-mates-lifting-off-mia-mcpherson-3198.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/blue-winged-teal-mates-lifting-off-mia-mcpherson-3198.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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morning light, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/blue-winged-teal-pair-sequoyah-NWR-mia-mcpherson-1157.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/blue-winged-teal-pair-sequoyah-NWR-mia-mcpherson-1157.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/blue-winged-teal-pair-sequoyah-NWR-mia-mcpherson-1157.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/blue-winged-teal-pair-sequoyah-NWR-mia-mcpherson-1157.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":75405,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/11\/18\/drake-green-winged-teal-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":142842,"position":2},"title":"Drake Green-winged Teal At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 18, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I was able to take close up photos of a drake Green-winged Teal paddling away from me 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":"Drake Green-winged Teal paddling by, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/green-winged-teal-drake-marsh-mia-mcpherson-4700.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/green-winged-teal-drake-marsh-mia-mcpherson-4700.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Out of 49 people taking the quiz there were 6 votes for Mallard, 8 votes for Blue-winged Teal, 9 votes for Gadwall and 26 votes for Green-winged Teal.","rel":"","context":"In "Bird ID"","block_context":{"text":"Bird ID","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/bird-identification\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Green-winged Teal drake, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/green-winged-teal-drake-mia-mcpherson-8587.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/green-winged-teal-drake-mia-mcpherson-8587.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/green-winged-teal-drake-mia-mcpherson-8587.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Sequoyah NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning, I'm sharing one photo that I took of the Red-winged Blackbird murmurations I saw on my last trip to Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In "Oklahoma"","block_context":{"text":"Oklahoma","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/oklahoma\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-winged Blackbird murmuration, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/red-winged-blackbird-murmuration-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-7362.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/red-winged-blackbird-murmuration-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-7362.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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