{"id":97563,"date":"2021-11-24T06:00:16","date_gmt":"2021-11-24T13:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=97563"},"modified":"2021-11-24T06:00:41","modified_gmt":"2021-11-24T13:00:41","slug":"ruddy-ducks-in-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/11\/24\/ruddy-ducks-in-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"Ruddy Ducks In Flight"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FlockFlock of Ruddy Ducks in flight – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/3200, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

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. These Ruddy Ducks were photographed on November 25, 2010. It was Thanksgiving Day that year and I was at Farmington Bay WMA looking for birds to photograph. It is kind of a Thanksgiving tradition for me to photograph birds on Thanksgiving Day that started before I even moved to Utah.<\/p>\n

Tracking Ruddy Ducks in flight is very challenging because they are small ducks and their flight pattern can be very erratic. The light wasn’t the best when I photographed this flock of Ruddy Ducks flying past me over the marsh but I was happy to take photos of them. Keeping them in my viewfinder and in focus was not an easy feat.<\/p>\n

At this time of the year many of the male ducks in North America are in or are molting into their breeding plumage. Drake Ruddy Ducks go into breeding plumage later than most ducks. Usually they start molting into breeding plumage around the beginning of March. I have seen a few drakes starting to get their blue bills earlier than that.<\/p>\n

\"PreeningPreening female Ruddy Duck – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 320, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Female and immature Ruddy Ducks are brown and have a brown streak across their pale cheeks. I photographed this preening female close to home on a bright December evening in 2016. A few of these small ducks show up at ponds close to where I live in Salt Lake County practically every fall and winter. They seem less skittish on those ponds than they are in locations where hunting is allowed.<\/p>\n

\"RuddyRuddy Duck drake and hen at Bear River MBR – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This pair of Ruddy Ducks was photographed on calm water at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> in January of 2018. Most of the water in the wetlands were covered with ice that morning but there were a few open patches on the west side of the auto tour route. The male in front with the bright white cheeks shows a bit of the bright blue that his bill would have changed to in full breeding plumage.<\/p>\n

I adore photographing these small diving ducks and wish that I were able to have more opportunities with them in my viewfinder on the water and in flight.\u00a0 I may have to make some changes about the time of day that normally I go out into the field to accomplish that because of light angles on a few bodies of water where I see this species most often. Change can be good though and I am up for it.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":97552,"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":[124,27,1148,1022,697,2397,709,26],"tags":[4004,970,4753,4483,1129,126,4620,4070,4052,4247,4122,4359,4062,4094,4246,2398,1984,4019,2447,4018,1283,8018,3996,2063,4095,373],"class_list":["post-97563","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-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-ruddy-ducks","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-diving-ducks","tag-drake","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-fall","tag-female","tag-flight","tag-flock","tag-flying","tag-hen","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-oxyura-jamaicensis","tag-pond","tag-preening-2","tag-ruddy-duck","tag-sky","tag-swimming","tag-urban","tag-water","tag-waterfowl","tag-wetlands","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ruddy-ducks-in-flight-mia-mcpherson-5493.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-pnB","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11597,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/12\/06\/photos-that-make-me-laugh-ruddy-duck-female\/","url_meta":{"origin":97563,"position":0},"title":"Photos That Make Me Laugh – Ruddy Duck Female","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Some times when I open a photo I took I can't help but laugh for various reasons, in this case when I opened the file the pose of this Ruddy Duck female just \"quacked\" me up.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Ruddy Duck shaking, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ruddy-duck-female-funny-mia-mcpherson-4658.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ruddy-duck-female-funny-mia-mcpherson-4658.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ruddy-duck-female-funny-mia-mcpherson-4658.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ruddy-duck-female-funny-mia-mcpherson-4658.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":19721,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/02\/07\/a-ruddy-duck-hen\/","url_meta":{"origin":97563,"position":1},"title":"Ruddy Duck Hen","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This series of Ruddy Duck images took just a little less than 8 seconds and then she tucked her bill back under her scapular and closed her eyes again.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rousing female Ruddy Duck, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ruddy-duck-female-rousing-mia-mcpherson-0080.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-female-rousing-mia-mcpherson-0080.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ruddy-duck-female-rousing-mia-mcpherson-0080.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ruddy-duck-female-rousing-mia-mcpherson-0080.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":61466,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/11\/17\/resting-ruddy-duck-in-a-fog\/","url_meta":{"origin":97563,"position":2},"title":"Resting Ruddy Duck In A Fog","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 17, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm really glad I looked at these ducks in the fog and decided to take photos of them even though I was looking towards the sun instead of away from it like I typically do when photographing birds.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ruddy Duck resting in morning fog, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ruddy-duck-in-fog-mia-mcpherson-0812.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-in-fog-mia-mcpherson-0812.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ruddy-duck-in-fog-mia-mcpherson-0812.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/ruddy-duck-in-fog-mia-mcpherson-0812.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48509,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/09\/18\/ruddy-duck-hen-in-golden-evening-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":97563,"position":3},"title":"Ruddy Duck Hen in Golden Evening Light","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 18, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The Ruddy Duck hen was photographed at a pond close to where I live during the evening hours and I loved the golden light on the bird and on the water.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ruddy Duck female in evening light, Salt Lake County, 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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":[]},{"id":109661,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/01\/17\/ruddy-duck-drake-close-to-home\/","url_meta":{"origin":97563,"position":5},"title":"Ruddy Duck Drake Close To Home","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 17, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The last time I was at my neighborhood pond I spotted a Ruddy Duck drake out in the middle of the water who was starting to transition into breeding plumage.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Urban Ruddy Duck drake, Salt Lake County, 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":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97563","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=97563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}