{"id":17154,"date":"2014-11-18T05:18:36","date_gmt":"2014-11-18T12:18:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=17154"},"modified":"2025-11-18T07:16:05","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T13:16:05","slug":"edit-greater-scaup-drake-at-bear-river-national-wildlife-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/11\/18\/edit-greater-scaup-drake-at-bear-river-national-wildlife-refuge\/","title":{"rendered":"Greater Scaup Drake At Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GreaterGreater Scaup drake – Nikon D810, f8, 1.500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

It was crisp, clear and very cold yesterday morning at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> where I saw a low of 8\u00b0F but it was great being back there. The Bear River had ice on it and so did many of the units on the auto tour route. I was hoping to see my first Bald Eagles or Tundra Swans of the winter season there but that did not happen.<\/p>\n

I did see loads of ducks.<\/p>\n

This Greater Scaup drake is making the transition into his breeding plumage and was in among American Coots, a resting female scaup, Pied-Billed Grebes and a single Canvasback.<\/p>\n

It had warmed up to about 14\u00b0F by the time I found them and the coots were actively feeding. It is a challenge at time to isolate just one bird when they are grouped up like they were but in this image I like the out of focus grebe in the background.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

This Greater Scaup drake is making the transition into his breeding plumage and was in among American Coots, a resting female scaup, Pied-Billed Grebes and a single Canvasback.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":97728,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,27,1148,964,26],"tags":[4004,970,973,4008,4753,4483,1129,126,4620,2440,4062,4094,6400,6401,3996,2063,4095],"class_list":["post-17154","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-greater-scaups","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-aythya-marila","tag-box-elder-county","tag-diving-ducks","tag-drake","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-fall","tag-greater-scaup","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-scaup","tag-scaups","tag-water","tag-waterfowl","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/greater-scaup-drake-mia-mcpherson-9265.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-4sG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":100354,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/03\/lesser-scaup-hen-and-drake-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":17154,"position":0},"title":"Lesser Scaup Hen And Drake At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"On my last trip up to Bear River MBR I had a brief opportunity to photograph a Lesser Scaup hen next to the auto tour loop as she flapped her wings.","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":"Lesser Scaup hen flapping her wings, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/lesser-scaup-hen-wing-flap-mia-mcpherson-7243.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/lesser-scaup-hen-wing-flap-mia-mcpherson-7243.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/lesser-scaup-drake-winter-mia-mcpherson-6489.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/lesser-scaup-drake-winter-mia-mcpherson-6489.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/lesser-scaup-drake-winter-mia-mcpherson-6489.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/lesser-scaup-drake-winter-mia-mcpherson-6489.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":139526,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/02\/08\/drake-lesser-scaup-on-the-great-salt-lake\/","url_meta":{"origin":17154,"position":3},"title":"Drake Lesser Scaup On The Great Salt Lake","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 8, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning, I'm sharing two winter drake Lesser Scaup photos I took three years ago today from the causeway to Antelope Island State Park in Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Winter drake Lesser Scaup on the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/lesser-scaup-drake-mia-mcpherson-9033.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/lesser-scaup-drake-mia-mcpherson-9033.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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The scaup puzzled me and I wondered if he might be a hybrid.","rel":"","context":"In "Bird ID"","block_context":{"text":"Bird ID","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/bird-identification\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ring-necked Duck and an odd Lesser Scaup, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/ring-necked-duck-and-weird-scaup-mia-mcpherson-1489.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/ring-necked-duck-and-weird-scaup-mia-mcpherson-1489.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/ring-necked-duck-and-weird-scaup-mia-mcpherson-1489.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/ring-necked-duck-and-weird-scaup-mia-mcpherson-1489.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":51240,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/03\/13\/drake-lesser-scaup-in-salt-lake-county\/","url_meta":{"origin":17154,"position":5},"title":"Drake Lesser Scaup in Salt Lake County","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 13, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The drake Lesser Scaup did come in close enough to be able to take a few images of it where it almost filled the frame before a man and his dog walked by and caused the scaup to make a hasty retreat to the middle of the pond.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lesser Scaup drake floating on a pond, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/lesser-scaup-drake-pond-mia-mcpherson-6558.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/lesser-scaup-drake-pond-mia-mcpherson-6558.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/lesser-scaup-drake-pond-mia-mcpherson-6558.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/lesser-scaup-drake-pond-mia-mcpherson-6558.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\/17154","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=17154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17154\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}