{"id":42354,"date":"2016-10-02T05:33:39","date_gmt":"2016-10-02T11:33:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=42354"},"modified":"2025-05-17T12:30:39","modified_gmt":"2025-05-17T17:30:39","slug":"northern-shoveler-drake-and-hen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/10\/02\/northern-shoveler-drake-and-hen\/","title":{"rendered":"Northern Shoveler Drake and Hen"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DapperDapper looking Northern Shoveler drake – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/1600, ISO 500, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Duck hunting season opened yesterday here in Northern Utah but I don’t hunt with a gun, just my camera. Farmington Bay WMA might be full of hunters this morning but it doesn’t take some of the ducks long to learn where the no hunting sections of the WMA are and some of the ducks will congregate in those areas. Some of those areas are easy to access for photographers and that can make getting images of them just a little bit easier because these birds are typically fairly skittish.\u00a0 This beautiful Northern Shoveler drake in breeding plumage was photographed in one of those no hunting areas on New Years Day 2015 at Farmington Bay.<\/p>\n

In breeding plumage the bills of drake shovelers remind me of the black patent leather shoes I wore and disliked so much as a child.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Northern Shoveler at Farmington Bay WMA – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/640, ISO 250, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light <\/span><\/p>\n

Northern Shoveler hens aren’t as colorful as the males and their bills aren’t ever black but they have beautiful makings in their plumage. Northern shovelers are dabbling ducks and feed by tipping their heads down to reach aquatic invertebrates and vegetation beneath the surface of the water.<\/p>\n

As the temperatures drop further north more and more of these handsome Northern Shovelers will make their way here to northern Utah, I’m excited about that. As numerous as they are I don’t have all that many photos of them in my portfolio because of how skittish they can be.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

This beautiful Northern Shoveler drake in breeding plumage was photographed in one of those no hunting areas on New Years Day 2015 at Farmington Bay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":144491,"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":[27,1022,697,429,26],"tags":[4004,4053,4717,4483,1129,126,4070,4359,4062,4094,1137,6968,9224,975,2063,4095],"class_list":["post-42354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-northern-shovelers","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-dabbling-ducks","tag-drake","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-female","tag-hen","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-northern-shoveler","tag-shoveler","tag-skittish","tag-spatula-clypeata","tag-waterfowl","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/northern-shoveler-male-mia-mcpherson-0874.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-b18","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":97664,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/11\/26\/drake-northern-shoveler-landing-on-a-chilly-pond\/","url_meta":{"origin":42354,"position":0},"title":"Drake Northern Shoveler Landing On A Chilly Pond","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 26, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I am sharing a simple photo of a drake Northern Shoveler landing on a chilly pond that I took in early December of last year.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake Northern Shoveler landing on a pond, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/northern-shoveler-drake-landing-mia-mcpherson-7223.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/northern-shoveler-drake-landing-mia-mcpherson-7223.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/northern-shoveler-drake-landing-mia-mcpherson-7223.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/northern-shoveler-drake-landing-mia-mcpherson-7223.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":61433,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/11\/16\/northern-shoveler-the-rising-sun-and-fog\/","url_meta":{"origin":42354,"position":1},"title":"Northern Shoveler, The Rising Sun And Fog","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Three days ago there was a little bit of fog at Farmington Bay WMA while the sun was coming up over the Wasatch Mountains which set up the conditions I needed to take this Northern Shoveler photo.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Northern Shoveler in a morning fog, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/northern-shoveler-in-the-fog-mia-mcpherson-0813.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/northern-shoveler-in-the-fog-mia-mcpherson-0813.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/northern-shoveler-in-the-fog-mia-mcpherson-0813.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/northern-shoveler-in-the-fog-mia-mcpherson-0813.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":126291,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/03\/28\/drake-northern-shoveler-and-american-coot\/","url_meta":{"origin":42354,"position":2},"title":"Drake Northern Shoveler And American Coot","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 28, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This drake Northern Shoveler swam past me on my last trip up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. I couldn't resist taking photos of him. Why would I want to?","rel":"","context":"In "American Coots"","block_context":{"text":"American Coots","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gruiformes\/american-coots\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake Northern Shoveler swimming by, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/northern-shoveler-drake-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0987.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/northern-shoveler-drake-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0987.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/northern-shoveler-drake-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0987.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/northern-shoveler-drake-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0987.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":137772,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/12\/12\/hen-and-drake-northern-shovelers-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":42354,"position":3},"title":"Hen And Drake Northern Shovelers At Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 12, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Some areas of Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge were very ducky yesterday. These hen and drake Northern Shovelers were among the dabbling ducks I found.","rel":"","context":"In "Northern Shovelers"","block_context":{"text":"Northern Shovelers","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/ducks\/northern-shovelers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Hen and drake Northern Shovelers at Sequoyah NWR, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/northern-shovelers-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-7486.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/northern-shovelers-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-7486.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/northern-shovelers-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-7486.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Great Salt Lake","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"It is interesting to see this whirlpool effect of Northern Shovelers on the surface of the Great Salt Lake and to hear the sounds of their bills dabbling in the water.","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":"Whirlpool of feeding Northern Shovelers near the causeway to Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/northern-shovelers-feeding-mia-mcpherosn-9408.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/northern-shovelers-feeding-mia-mcpherosn-9408.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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