{"id":27496,"date":"2015-08-18T05:21:46","date_gmt":"2015-08-18T11:21:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=27496"},"modified":"2025-05-19T05:14:44","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T10:14:44","slug":"it-is-getting-duckier-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/08\/18\/it-is-getting-duckier-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/","title":{"rendered":"It is Getting Duckier at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"RuddyRuddy Duck drake at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge – Nikon D810, f9, 1\/800, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the past couple of weeks I have noticed that Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> is getting duckier. I am seeing more ducks in the water and flying over head now than I had in July.\u00a0 Yesterday I was pleased to find this Ruddy Duck drake that has a bit of blue on his bill.<\/p>\n

\"GadwallGadwall hen and ducklings – Nikon D810, f9, 1\/1600, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

And some of the ducks still have ducklings trailing behind them like the Gadwall hen. The ducklings stayed very close to her out on the open water.<\/p>\n

\"SlightlyA slightly odd looking Redhead drake – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I also saw this Redhead drake. Or is it? At first glance I my brain said “Redhead” but its head seemed paler than it should be, the bill is darker than I would expect and where did that ring around its neck come from? Is this what a juvenile drake Redhead looks like as it transitions into breeding plumage or is this individual just paler than normal? I don’t really know. I’m going to try to sort it out but would appreciate help with this duck.<\/del><\/span> This is a male Redhead going into breeding plumage, I guess typically I don’t see them this time of the season because I am usually camping further north and it doesn’t take long for this species to go into breeding plumage. Thanks for the help Mark and Stephanie.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> just ducky!<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my duck, swan, and geese photos.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":119080,"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":[124,27,1148,963,2460,2397,26],"tags":[2461,1129,4414,126,607,971,4094,2398,4560,2447,3996,2063,4095],"class_list":["post-27496","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-redheads","category-ruddy-ducks","category-utah","tag-aythya-americana","tag-duck","tag-ducklings","tag-ducks-2","tag-gadwall","tag-mareca-strepera","tag-marsh","tag-oxyura-jamaicensis","tag-redhead","tag-ruddy-duck","tag-water","tag-waterfowl","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/redhead-drake-mia-mcpherson-8002.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-79u","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":55722,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/01\/17\/ruddy-duck-drake-in-nonbreeding-plumage\/","url_meta":{"origin":27496,"position":0},"title":"Ruddy Duck Drake In Nonbreeding Plumage","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 17, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Even though this drake Ruddy Duck is small in the frame I liked this image because of the silky blue water, the small wake behind the duck, the direct eye contact and how some of the blue of this drake's bill is visible.","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 Ruddy Duck in nonbreeding plumage, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, 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photos of Ruddy Ducks in flight and I remembered I had a series of them flying past taken 11 years ago.","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":"Flock of Ruddy Ducks in flight, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ruddy-ducks-in-flight-mia-mcpherson-5493.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ruddy-ducks-in-flight-mia-mcpherson-5493.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ruddy-ducks-in-flight-mia-mcpherson-5493.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-marsh-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-0997.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-marsh-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-0997.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-marsh-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-0997.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-marsh-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-0997.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":110339,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/02\/17\/dapper-drake-common-merganser-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":27496,"position":3},"title":"Dapper Drake Common Merganser At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 17, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I am sharing photos of a dapper drake Common Merganser in his finest breeding plumage that I took four mornings ago 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":"Bathing Common Merganser drake, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/common-merganser-winter-ice-drake-mia-mcpherson-3751.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/common-merganser-winter-ice-drake-mia-mcpherson-3751.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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