{"id":46643,"date":"2017-05-07T05:22:14","date_gmt":"2017-05-07T11:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=46643"},"modified":"2025-09-10T10:44:53","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T15:44:53","slug":"american-avocet-with-two-different-backgrounds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/05\/07\/american-avocet-with-two-different-backgrounds\/","title":{"rendered":"American Avocet with Two Different Backgrounds"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AmericanAmerican Avocet with water in the background – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 250, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Last week while I was at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> I stopped to photograph some Short-billed Dowitchers on the south side of the auto tour route and noticed an American Avocet walking into view and since she was closer to me than the dowitchers I decided to aim my lens at her. The avocet was walking in an open area of water and I knew I would get photos that had plain blue in the background. The avocet is in her breeding colors and the warm peachy tones of her head and neck plumage stood out well from the soft blue of the water.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Avocet with reflections of rushes in the background – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 250, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

As I photographed the avocet I moved slowly forward in my Jeep because I could tell that the avocet was going to walk in front of a stand of rushes and that the water would reflect the colors of the vegetation behind the bird. I wanted to capture this avocet with two different backgrounds and when she walked into the area with the reflections of rushes on the water I was in position, engine off and prepared.<\/p>\n

Even though this background is busier looking than the image with the plain blue water because of the reflections of the background vegetation the avocet still stands out well.<\/p>\n

I’m happy with both images of this female American Avocet but I think I prefer the second image more because the reflections of the water add a sense of depth and more visual interest that I find lacking in the first photo. That is just my own personal preference of these two photos though and other people might find the clean blue background more appealing.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my American Avocet photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

P.S., I can tell this is a female American Avocet because of the curvature of her bill, the bills of the males do not have this much of a curve.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m happy with both images of this female American Avocet but I think I prefer the second image more because the reflections of the water add a sense of depth and more visual interest that I find lacking in the first photo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":155212,"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":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[451,124,27,1148,26],"tags":[1634,5828,5350,5860,4070,4094,4177,274,165,3996,4095],"class_list":["post-46643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-avocets","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-utah","tag-american-avocet","tag-avocet","tag-avocets","tag-different-backgrounds","tag-female","tag-marsh","tag-recurvirostra-americana","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-spring","tag-water","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/american-avocet-brmbr-mia-mcpherson-9964.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-c8j","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":113609,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/05\/30\/springtime-adult-american-avocet\/","url_meta":{"origin":46643,"position":0},"title":"Springtime Adult American Avocet","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 30, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning, I wanted to share a photo of an adult American Avocet taken in the wetlands of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.","rel":"","context":"In "American Avocets"","block_context":{"text":"American Avocets","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/shorebirds\/american-avocets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Avocet walking in shallow water in spring, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/american-avocet-springtime-mia-mcpherson-2904.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/american-avocet-springtime-mia-mcpherson-2904.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/american-avocet-springtime-mia-mcpherson-2904.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/american-avocet-springtime-mia-mcpherson-2904.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":41388,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/08\/29\/american-avocet-devouring-a-tiny-crayfish\/","url_meta":{"origin":46643,"position":1},"title":"American Avocet Devouring a Tiny Crayfish","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 29, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I was tickled to photograph this American Avocet as it fed but it wasn't until later that I knew it was devouring a tiny crayfish.","rel":"","context":"In "American Avocets"","block_context":{"text":"American Avocets","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/shorebirds\/american-avocets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Avocet eating a tiny crayfish, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/american-avocet-crayfish-mia-mcpherson-3303.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/american-avocet-crayfish-mia-mcpherson-3303.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/american-avocet-crayfish-mia-mcpherson-3303.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/american-avocet-crayfish-mia-mcpherson-3303.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":113164,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/05\/03\/springtime-grebe-and-avocet-portraits\/","url_meta":{"origin":46643,"position":2},"title":"Springtime Grebe And Avocet Portraits","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 3, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I am sharing two springtime portraits that I took last week at Bear River MBR. The first is a Western Grebe, the second, an American Avocet.","rel":"","context":"In "American Avocets"","block_context":{"text":"American Avocets","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/shorebirds\/american-avocets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Springtime Western Grebe portrait, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/western-grebe-portrait-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-2171.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/western-grebe-portrait-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-2171.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/western-grebe-portrait-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-2171.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/western-grebe-portrait-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-2171.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":51896,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/04\/30\/foraging-american-avocets-in-breeding-plumage\/","url_meta":{"origin":46643,"position":3},"title":"Foraging American Avocets in Breeding Plumage","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 30, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Eight days ago it was sunny and bright and I was out having fun photographing a pair of foraging American Avocets in breeding plumage at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "American Avocets"","block_context":{"text":"American Avocets","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/shorebirds\/american-avocets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Foraging American Avocet in breeding plumage, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/american-avocet-foraging-mia-mcpherson-2979.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/american-avocet-foraging-mia-mcpherson-2979.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/american-avocet-foraging-mia-mcpherson-2979.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/american-avocet-foraging-mia-mcpherson-2979.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":41187,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/08\/20\/post-breeding-season-aggressive-behavior-in-american-avocets-plus-a-bonus-great-horned-owl\/","url_meta":{"origin":46643,"position":4},"title":"Post-breeding Season Aggressive Behavior in American Avocets Plus a Bonus Great Horned Owl","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I am unable to find information on line about why this male American Avocet attacked the female so aggressively but I can say that it was fascinating to see and photograph it.","rel":"","context":"In "American Avocets"","block_context":{"text":"American Avocets","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/shorebirds\/american-avocets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male American Avocet being aggressive with the female, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/american-avocets-fighting-mia-mcpherson-0444.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/american-avocets-fighting-mia-mcpherson-0444.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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