{"id":4900,"date":"2012-05-02T04:00:32","date_gmt":"2012-05-02T10:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=4900"},"modified":"2025-05-25T06:46:01","modified_gmt":"2025-05-25T11:46:01","slug":"killdeer-wash-fluff-and-dry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/05\/02\/killdeer-wash-fluff-and-dry\/","title":{"rendered":"Killdeer – Wash, Fluff and Dry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week I photographed a Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus<\/em>) bathing at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area in Davis County, Utah. I was in a mobile blind (vehicle) and the shorebird was quite comfortable in my presence. I used my Nikon D300, resting on my Noodle, f6.3, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, 0.0 EV and my shutter speed ranged from 1\/1600 to 1\/2000.<\/p>\n

The images are posted in sequential order.<\/p>\n

\"Killdeer

Killdeer in a puddle<\/p><\/div>\n

The Killdeer was bathing when I first focused on the bird and it stopped momentarily.<\/p>\n

\"Splish

Splish Splash Killdeer takin’ a bath<\/p><\/div>\n

It soon began bathing again, vigorously. I like the flying water droplets and how the water is running off of the birds back.<\/p>\n

\"Killdeer

Killdeer being showered with water<\/p><\/div>\n

The Killdeer would press its body into the water and then rise back up.<\/p>\n

\"Killdeer

Killdeer taking a bath in a puddle<\/p><\/div>\n

Then it would spread out its wings a bit.<\/p>\n

\"Killdeer

Killdeer twisting its head while bathing<\/p><\/div>\n

Sometimes the Killdeer would dip its head into the water, twist it and fling water over its back. While I wish that some of the water wasn’t in front of the eye blocking the catch light I am happy that the bird had its eye open in this frame. I love the action shown here.<\/p>\n

\"Killdeer

Killdeer bathing<\/p><\/div>\n

The Killdeer also bobbed its body up and down without immersing its whole body.<\/p>\n

\"Killdeer

Killdeer splashing in a puddle<\/p><\/div>\n

I liked this image because I caught the bill open.<\/p>\n

\"Killdeer

Killdeer cleaning up in a puddle<\/p><\/div>\n

I like the great eye contact in this frame.<\/p>\n

\"Killdeer

Killdeer shaking off water<\/p><\/div>\n

And the fluffed up feathers in this frame.<\/p>\n

\"Killdeer

Killdeer fluffing up after a bath<\/p><\/div>\n

Even 1\/1600 wasn’t fast enough to stop the motion blur of the feathers but it did freeze most of the water droplets.<\/p>\n

\"Killdeer

Killdeer calling while bathing<\/p><\/div>\n

Then the Killdeer stood up and called.<\/p>\n

\"Killdeer

Killdeer after bathing<\/p><\/div>\n

Turned its back and gave me an over the shoulder look…<\/p>\n

\"Killdeer

Killdeer tidying up its feathers after bathing<\/p><\/div>\n

And it began to preen.<\/p>\n

\"Killdeer

Killdeer in a funny pose after bathing<\/p><\/div>\n

I thought this was a funny pose.<\/p>\n

\"Killdeer

Killdeer post-bathing<\/p><\/div>\n

And this one too!<\/p>\n

\"Killdeer

Killdeer after bathing<\/p><\/div>\n

The bird moved away from the water and gave itself a final fluff before it flew away.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Last week I photographed a Killdeer bathing at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area in Davis County, Utah. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":146919,"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":[27,1022,697,267,26],"tags":[4004,5109,4373,4226,4144,4309,270,4094,5841,275,4019,5112,274,2688,165,3996,5110,4095],"class_list":["post-4900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-killdeer","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-bath","tag-bathing","tag-behavior","tag-charadrius-vociferus","tag-fluffed-up","tag-killdeer","tag-marsh","tag-plover","tag-plovers","tag-preening-2","tag-puddle","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-splashing","tag-spring","tag-water","tag-water-droplets","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/killdeer-bathing-8342-mia-mcpherson.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1h2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":116599,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/10\/01\/killdeer-on-a-boat-ramp\/","url_meta":{"origin":4900,"position":0},"title":"Killdeer On A Boat Ramp","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 1, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week, I photographed this Killdeer on a boat ramp at Farmington Bay WMA. It's such a simple image, and that's probably why I like it so much.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Killdeer on a boat ramp at Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/killdeer-boat-ramp-farmington-bay-mia-mcpherson-1398.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/killdeer-boat-ramp-farmington-bay-mia-mcpherson-1398.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/killdeer-boat-ramp-farmington-bay-mia-mcpherson-1398.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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believe that the first shorebirds I ever noticed as a very young girl were Killdeer and I think I noticed them mostly because they were so noisy.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Killdeer in morning light at Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/killdeer-morning-mia-mcpherson-1274.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/killdeer-morning-mia-mcpherson-1274.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/killdeer-morning-mia-mcpherson-1274.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/killdeer-morning-mia-mcpherson-1274.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":112070,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/04\/05\/killdeer-in-a-spring-snowstorm\/","url_meta":{"origin":4900,"position":3},"title":"Killdeer In A Spring Snowstorm","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 5, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning, after blowing, shoveling, and scraping about nine to ten inches of snow, I went looking for birds and found a Killdeer in a spring snowstorm.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Killdeer standing in water during a snowstorm, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/killdeer-adult-april-snowstorm-mia-mcpherson-7067.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/killdeer-adult-april-snowstorm-mia-mcpherson-7067.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/killdeer-adult-april-snowstorm-mia-mcpherson-7067.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/killdeer-adult-april-snowstorm-mia-mcpherson-7067.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":115354,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/08\/23\/kamas-valley-killdeer\/","url_meta":{"origin":4900,"position":4},"title":"Kamas Valley Killdeer","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 23, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week, in the Kamas Valley in Summit County, Utah I was pleased to take Killdeer photos in a wet meadow with pink clovers and piles of cow manure.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Killdeer and clover in the Kamas Valley, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/killdeer-kamas-valley-wet-meadow-mia-mcpherson-7870.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/killdeer-kamas-valley-wet-meadow-mia-mcpherson-7870.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/killdeer-kamas-valley-wet-meadow-mia-mcpherson-7870.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/killdeer-kamas-valley-wet-meadow-mia-mcpherson-7870.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":105042,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/08\/16\/young-killdeer-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":4900,"position":5},"title":"Young Killdeer At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 16, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I drove up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge where the second bird that I photographed was a young Killdeer in the early light of dawn.","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":"Young Killdeer just after dawn, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/killdeer-young-refuge-mia-mcpherson-3508.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/killdeer-young-refuge-mia-mcpherson-3508.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/killdeer-young-refuge-mia-mcpherson-3508.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/killdeer-young-refuge-mia-mcpherson-3508.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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