{"id":43871,"date":"2016-12-12T06:17:03","date_gmt":"2016-12-12T13:17:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=43871"},"modified":"2023-12-17T05:52:11","modified_gmt":"2023-12-17T12:52:11","slug":"redhead-drakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/12\/12\/redhead-drakes\/","title":{"rendered":"Redhead Drakes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DrakeDrake Redhead Close up – Nikon D300, f7.1, 1\/500, ISO 500, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Things are pretty ducky around here lately. At Farmington Bay and Bear River MBR I am seeing all the ducks I normally see in winter but quite often I am unable to get close to them at those locations because it is hunting season and the ducks are warier and far more skittish than normal.<\/p>\n

But closer to home I can photograph the ducks at a nearby by urban pond where they aren’t quite so wary. In fact some times they come up so close that I can’t focus on them. Granted, some of them have gotten used to the food that people handout to the ducks but some also come for the fish and other natural food sources too.<\/p>\n

Early winter through spring is a good time to photograph Redheads close to where I live and it can also provide opportunities to get close ups of these males with their cinnamon colored heads, bright orange eyes and interesting tricolored bills.<\/p>\n

\"DrakeDrake Redhead at Bear River MBR in spring – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, +-0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

After the hunting season is over I can usually get closer to the ducks at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> but not normally as close as I can get to them on the pond near where I live in Salt Lake County. Still, I love seeing all the ducks at the refuge. In the spring I see Redhead drakes courting the hens and chasing the other males around the water impoundments from the auto tour route.<\/p>\n

This Redhead drake photographed at the refuge in his breeding plumage sure stood out well from the water that was reflecting the spring growth of rushes and phragmites.<\/p>\n

Life is good. Or just ducky.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

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

This Redhead drake photographed at the refuge in his breeding plumage sure stood out well from the water that was reflecting the spring growth of rushes and phragmites. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":119100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[124,27,1148,2460,709,26],"tags":[4004,2461,4053,4142,4483,1129,126,4062,4094,1984,4046,4560,4092,165,8018,2063,4095,373],"class_list":["post-43871","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-redheads","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-aythya-americana","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-close-up","tag-drake","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-pond","tag-portrait","tag-redhead","tag-refuge","tag-spring","tag-urban","tag-waterfowl","tag-wetlands","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/redhead-drake-green-water-mia-mcpherson-7327.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-bpB","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":107795,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/11\/07\/redhead-ducks-at-my-local-pond\/","url_meta":{"origin":43871,"position":0},"title":"Redhead Ducks At My Local Pond","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 7, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I took a brief walk at my local pond and was thrilled to see a small flock of Redhead ducks resting together on the surface of the pond.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Redhead drake flapping his wings on an urban pond, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/redhead-drake-flapping-wings-mia-mcpherson-3202.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/redhead-drake-flapping-wings-mia-mcpherson-3202.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Redhead drakes are more colorful than the hens and I always enjoy having them in my viewfinder because of their cinnamon colored heads, their bright orange eyes and their tri-colored bills.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Close up of a drake Redhead, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/redhead-drake-portrait-mia-mcpherson-8960.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-portrait-mia-mcpherson-8960.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/redhead-drake-portrait-mia-mcpherson-8960.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Redhead drakes in my viewfinder at my local pond. the light was lovely and so were the ducks.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Redhead drakes fighting over food, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/redhead-drakes-autumn-pond-mia-mcpherson-8373.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/redhead-drakes-autumn-pond-mia-mcpherson-8373.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/redhead-drakes-autumn-pond-mia-mcpherson-8373.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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