Mareca strepera
Male Gadwalls have finely barred, gray bodies, white bellies, dark rumps, gray-brown heads and necks and rust shoulders. Female Gadwalls are mottled brown with dark spotted orange bills.
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.
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.
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.
Today I wanted to share an assortment of spring birds all photographed at Bear River MBR yesterday on a bright and beautiful morning.
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.
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.
A few more changes in the Fifty-Eighth Supplement to the AOS Check-list have to do with dabbling ducks and "white geese".
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.
Over the past couple of weeks I have noticed that Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge is getting duckier. I am seeing more ducks in the water and flying over head now than I had in July.
Another wonderful change that I have been seeing is that a variety of duck species have been arriving at the Great Salt Lake