{"id":55793,"date":"2019-01-24T05:41:34","date_gmt":"2019-01-24T12:41:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=55793"},"modified":"2025-05-19T05:23:38","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T10:23:38","slug":"wintertime-drake-gadwall-close-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/01\/24\/wintertime-drake-gadwall-close-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Wintertime Drake Gadwall Close Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DrakeDrake Gadwall close up – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

On the same day I photographed a pair of Hooded Mergansers<\/span><\/a> this month I did photograph a few other birds that I saw.\u00a0 While I was photographing the Hoodies I saw a pair of Gadwalls move in close to where I sat in a “mobile blind”, they were so close the I opted to take close ups of them instead of taking of my teleconverter to get full body images.<\/p>\n

Those of you who follow my posts regularly or look at my photo galleries know that if I can take portraits or close up ethically and without causing my subjects alarm I will jump at the chance because I feel that close ups can show fine details that photos taken from further away sometimes can’t. I love looking at them in full resolution to see all those wonderful details.<\/p>\n

I don’t have all that many Gadwall images in my photo galleries and this morning I thought about that and wondered why that was the case. I’ve taken many images of them so that clearly isn’t the reason for the lack of their photos in my galleries and then I realized that quite often I see Gadwalls and American Coots close together because the Gadwalls will swipe the aquatic vegetation that the coots bring up and that I probably don’t get both birds as sharp as I would like or one or the other of the two species is blocking a view of the other’s eyes or face and that those images would probably go into my delete bin. I didn’t have that issue the day I photographed this drake Gadwall because there weren’t any coots nearby.<\/p>\n

I’m glad this Gadwall drake came in close so I could take a few photos of him before I turned my attention back to the pair of Hooded Mergansers.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m glad this Gadwall drake came in close so I could take a few photos of him before I turned my attention back to the pair of Hooded Mergansers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":144996,"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":[27,963,709,26],"tags":[4004,4142,4717,4483,1129,126,607,4062,971,10698,1984,4046,8018,3996,373],"class_list":["post-55793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-gadwalls","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-close-up","tag-dabbling-ducks","tag-drake","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-gadwall","tag-male","tag-mareca-strepera","tag-park","tag-pond","tag-portrait","tag-urban","tag-water","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-close-up-mia-mcpherson-1987.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-evT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":109303,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/01\/04\/gadwall-drake-resting-in-snow\/","url_meta":{"origin":55793,"position":0},"title":"Gadwall Drake Resting In Snow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 4, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I'm sharing photos of a Gadwall drake resting in snow plus a bonus photo of the leucistic American Coot taken yesterday in afternoon light.","rel":"","context":"In "American Coots"","block_context":{"text":"American Coots","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gruiformes\/american-coots\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Gadwall drake resting in snow, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/gadwall-drake-resting-in-snow-mia-mcpherson-7570.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/gadwall-drake-resting-in-snow-mia-mcpherson-7570.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/gadwall-drake-resting-in-snow-mia-mcpherson-7570.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/gadwall-drake-resting-in-snow-mia-mcpherson-7570.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":75000,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/10\/30\/drake-gadwalls-are-elegant-dabbling-ducks\/","url_meta":{"origin":55793,"position":1},"title":"Drake Gadwalls Are Elegant Dabbling Ducks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 30, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't have nearly enough Gadwall photos in my portfolios and I honestly don't know why that is the case since they are year round residents here in northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake Gadwall resting on a pond, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-in-pond-mia-mcpherson-0200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-in-pond-mia-mcpherson-0200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-in-pond-mia-mcpherson-0200.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-in-pond-mia-mcpherson-0200.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":44611,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/01\/27\/drake-gadwall-flapping-his-wings-on-a-winter-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":55793,"position":2},"title":"Drake Gadwall Flapping His Wings on a Winter Day","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Several of the Gadwalls were tipping their heads under the water to feed when this drake started to flap his wings before settling back down on the water.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake Gadwall flapping his wings, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-wing-flap-mia-mcpherson-7798.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-wing-flap-mia-mcpherson-7798.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-wing-flap-mia-mcpherson-7798.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-wing-flap-mia-mcpherson-7798.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":127409,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/04\/10\/gadwall-in-multicolored-reflections\/","url_meta":{"origin":55793,"position":3},"title":"Gadwall In Multicolored Reflections","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This Gadwall photo from last spring is the photo I decided to share this morning. It was taken at my local pond where the multicolored reflections appeal to me.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake Gadwall in multicolored reflections, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/gadwall-multicolored-reflections-mia-mcpherson-2664.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/gadwall-multicolored-reflections-mia-mcpherson-2664.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/gadwall-multicolored-reflections-mia-mcpherson-2664.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/gadwall-multicolored-reflections-mia-mcpherson-2664.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":126007,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/03\/26\/drake-gadwall-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":55793,"position":4},"title":"Drake Gadwall At Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The last time I drove up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, I was delighted to have this drake Gadwall in my viewfinder on the last leg of the auto tour loop.","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":"Drake Gadwall at Bear River MBR, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-marsh-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-0997.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-marsh-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-0997.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-marsh-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-0997.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-marsh-bear-river-mia-mcpherson-0997.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101987,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/04\/30\/spring-gadwall-drake-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":55793,"position":5},"title":"Spring Gadwall Drake Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 30, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I am sharing two simple Gadwall drake photos that I took last spring from the auto tour route at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.","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":"Displaying Gadwall drake in a marsh, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/gadwall-drake-displaying-mia-mcpherson-0745.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/gadwall-drake-displaying-mia-mcpherson-0745.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/gadwall-drake-displaying-mia-mcpherson-0745.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/gadwall-drake-displaying-mia-mcpherson-0745.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\/55793","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=55793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}