{"id":55722,"date":"2019-01-17T06:07:25","date_gmt":"2019-01-17T13:07:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=55722"},"modified":"2021-11-24T09:36:17","modified_gmt":"2021-11-24T16:36:17","slug":"ruddy-duck-drake-in-nonbreeding-plumage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/01\/17\/ruddy-duck-drake-in-nonbreeding-plumage\/","title":{"rendered":"Ruddy Duck Drake In Nonbreeding Plumage"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DrakeDrake Ruddy Duck in nonbreeding plumage – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Most of the male ducks I see here in northern Utah molt into their breeding plumage starting in September, October and November and the drakes look pretty flashy during the winter as they try to attract mates for the breeding season but that is not the case with Ruddy Duck drakes.<\/p>\n

Ruddy Duck drakes don’t molt into their breeding plumage until around March which is considerably later than most of the other male ducks I photograph during the winter. We do have Ruddy Ducks in this area year round though so I am able to see and photograph these small diving ducks in both their breeding and nonbreeding plumage.<\/p>\n

One year ago today I was on the auto tour route at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> during the morning hours and spotted a few Ruddy Ducks close enough to the road to photograph. I wish they had been closer but they are pretty skittish on the refuge during the hunting season and I can’t say I blame them for being that way.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The weather forecast here isn’t especially good for bird photography over the next week but I’m hoping I can catch a few breaks in between storm fronts or when a sucker hole moves through. I’d much rather be out with the birds than cooped up inside.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

For Ken: This is a few frames later and I showed more of the wake.<\/p>\n

\"NonbreedingNonbreeding Ruddy Duck drake and his wake – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

To view more of my Ruddy Duck images and information on this species click here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":97598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[124,27,1148,2397,26],"tags":[4004,6937,5011,4642,4753,4483,1129,126,4062,4094,4246,2398,4092,2447,373],"class_list":["post-55722","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-ruddy-ducks","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-alternate-i-plumage","tag-blue-water","tag-definitive-basic-plumage","tag-diving-ducks","tag-drake","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-oxyura-jamaicensis","tag-refuge","tag-ruddy-duck","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ruddy-duck-drake-mia-mcpherson-5552.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-euK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":119186,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/12\/18\/ruddy-duck-drake-what-a-difference-20-days-makes\/","url_meta":{"origin":55722,"position":0},"title":"Ruddy Duck Drake – What A Difference 20 Days Makes","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 18, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Just 20 days can make a big difference in the way this Ruddy Duck drake looks. His bill is a lot bluer now than it was when I first saw him at my local pond.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ruddy Duck drake on December 15, 2023, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/ruddy-duck-adult-male-december-mia-mcpherson-0364.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/ruddy-duck-adult-male-december-mia-mcpherson-0364.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/ruddy-duck-adult-male-december-mia-mcpherson-0364.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/ruddy-duck-adult-male-december-mia-mcpherson-0364.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":118573,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/26\/urban-ruddy-duck-drake\/","url_meta":{"origin":55722,"position":1},"title":"Urban Ruddy Duck Drake","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 26, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Even though it was windy yesterday afternoon, I spent a few minutes with a Ruddy Duck drake in my viewfinder at my local pond. I hoped that he would get closer.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Urban drake Ruddy Duck, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ruddy-duck-drake-nonbreeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-8688.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ruddy-duck-drake-nonbreeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-8688.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ruddy-duck-drake-nonbreeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-8688.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/ruddy-duck-drake-nonbreeding-plumage-mia-mcpherson-8688.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/ruddy-duck-drake-adult-mia-mcpherson-1632.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/ruddy-duck-drake-adult-mia-mcpherson-1632.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/ruddy-duck-drake-adult-mia-mcpherson-1632.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/ruddy-duck-drake-adult-mia-mcpherson-1632.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":97563,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/11\/24\/ruddy-ducks-in-flight\/","url_meta":{"origin":55722,"position":3},"title":"Ruddy Ducks In Flight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 24, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"A few days ago I saw someone say that they rarely saw 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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McPherson","date":"January 27, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Two days ago I photographed a Ruddy Duck close to home at my local pond. I was only able to take 14 image of it before it dove under the water and swam away.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Winter Ruddy Duck, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ruddy-duck-winter-pond-mia-mcpherson-0673.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-duck-winter-pond-mia-mcpherson-0673.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ruddy-duck-winter-pond-mia-mcpherson-0673.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ruddy-duck-winter-pond-mia-mcpherson-0673.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}