{"id":75000,"date":"2020-10-30T05:22:38","date_gmt":"2020-10-30T11:22:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=75000"},"modified":"2025-05-19T05:26:38","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T10:26:38","slug":"drake-gadwalls-are-elegant-dabbling-ducks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/10\/30\/drake-gadwalls-are-elegant-dabbling-ducks\/","title":{"rendered":"Drake Gadwalls Are Elegant Dabbling Ducks"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DrakeDrake Gadwall resting on a pond \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

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. Two days ago there were several pairs of Gadwalls on Glover Pond at Farmington Bay WMA and I jumped at the opportunity to photograph them.<\/p>\n

Drake Gadwalls always look elegant to me with their finely barred chests, gray backs with cinnamon feathers along with their black shiny bills. During this time of the year the drakes are beginning to look their finest in their Alternate or breeding plumage.<\/p>\n

I see these dabbling ducks at the ponds that are close to where I live, at Farmington Bay WMA, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and beyond. Gadwalls mix in with other ducks and coots and will readily swipe the food the other birds bring up to the surface of the water.<\/p>\n

I plan on paying more attention to Gadwalls and hope to have them in my viewfinder more often.<\/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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":144999,"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":[27,1022,697,963,26],"tags":[4004,970,4717,4483,1129,126,4620,607,10576,715,4062,971,1984,4156,3996,2063,4095],"class_list":["post-75000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-gadwalls","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-dabbling-ducks","tag-drake","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-fall","tag-gadwall","tag-gadwalls","tag-glover-pond","tag-male","tag-mareca-strepera","tag-pond","tag-resting","tag-water","tag-waterfowl","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gadwall-drake-in-pond-mia-mcpherson-0200.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-jvG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":126007,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/03\/26\/drake-gadwall-at-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":75000,"position":0},"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":127409,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/04\/10\/gadwall-in-multicolored-reflections\/","url_meta":{"origin":75000,"position":1},"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, 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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, 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