{"id":108781,"date":"2022-12-16T05:44:49","date_gmt":"2022-12-16T12:44:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=108781"},"modified":"2022-12-16T05:45:37","modified_gmt":"2022-12-16T12:45:37","slug":"immature-male-common-goldeneye-and-catfish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/12\/16\/immature-male-common-goldeneye-and-catfish\/","title":{"rendered":"Immature Male Common Goldeneye And Catfish"},"content":{"rendered":"

On this day two years ago, I photographed this immature male Common Goldeneye with a catfish at the pond in my neighborhood. It was a chilly, wintry afternoon. There were several Common Goldeneyes<\/span><\/a> on the pond. This one caught my eye because it appeared to be playing with its food.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature male Common Goldeneye with a catfish \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I never got the best light angle on both the small catfish and the immature male Common Goldeneye but this image was the closest. There was good light on the face of the young diving duck and the fish.<\/p>\n

The immature Common Goldeneye repeatedly dropped the catfish back into the water, recaptured it, and tossed it around in its bill. I am not sure of the duck was playing or whether he was just trying to get the fish at the right angle so he could swallow the fish without being hurt by its barbs.<\/p>\n

I never did see if the young male Common Goldeneye swallowed the catfish because I got distracted by an adult drake Common Goldeneye who started displaying a bit further out in the water.\u00a0 The white cheek patch was just beginning to show on this first winter drake.<\/p>\n

\"OverOver the shoulder look from a male Common Goldeneye \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This bonus photo of an adult drake Common Goldeneye giving me an over the shoulder look is the male that had started to show a courtship display. He stopped his courtship display right after his behavior caught my attention. I liked this image so much though that I wanted to include it this morning. This photo also shows how different immature and adult drake Common Goldeneyes can look.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

On this day two years ago, I photographed this immature male Common Goldeneye with a catfish at the pond in my neighborhood. It was a chilly, wintry afternoon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":108774,"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":[27,962,12454,26],"tags":[4004,970,4238,13544,4520,4753,4483,1129,126,4620,2450,4432,1130,4067,10014,4062,6689,1984,4106,8018,3996,2063,4193],"class_list":["post-108781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-common-goldeneyes","category-san-juan-county","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-bucephala-clangula","tag-catfish","tag-common-goldeneye","tag-diving-ducks","tag-drake","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-fall","tag-first-winter","tag-fish","tag-food","tag-immature","tag-look","tag-male","tag-over-the-shoulder","tag-pond","tag-prey","tag-urban","tag-water","tag-waterfowl","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/common-goldeneye-drake-young-catfish-mia-mcpherson-1547.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-six","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":121750,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/02\/22\/what-happened-to-winter-in-the-salt-lake-valley\/","url_meta":{"origin":108781,"position":0},"title":"What Happened To Winter In The Salt Lake Valley?","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 22, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"It is almost the end of February and I'm wondering what happened to winter this year in the Salt Lake Valley. Has winter gone on walkabout? Where is the snow?","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature drake Common Goldeneye with a crayfish catch, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/common-goldeneye-immature-male-crayfish-mia-mcpherson-2753.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/common-goldeneye-immature-male-crayfish-mia-mcpherson-2753.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/common-goldeneye-immature-male-crayfish-mia-mcpherson-2753.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/common-goldeneye-immature-male-crayfish-mia-mcpherson-2753.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":61846,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/12\/02\/why-do-these-drake-common-goldeneyes-look-different\/","url_meta":{"origin":108781,"position":1},"title":"Why Do These Drake Common Goldeneyes Look Different?","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 2, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Both of these drake Common Goldeneyes were photographed on January 7, 2018, but they don't look quite the same.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult drake Common Goldeneye side view, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-goldeneye-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-3509.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-goldeneye-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-3509.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-goldeneye-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-3509.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-goldeneye-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-3509.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":99210,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/01\/24\/first-winter-common-goldeneye-drake-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":108781,"position":2},"title":"First Winter Common Goldeneye Drake Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Two days ago I spent a lot of time focused on a first winter Common Goldeneye drake as he swam, foraged, and ate at an urban pond close to home.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young Common Goldeneye drake swallowing a crayfish, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/common-goldeneye-drake-1st-winter-mia-mcpherson-2414.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/common-goldeneye-drake-1st-winter-mia-mcpherson-2414.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/common-goldeneye-drake-1st-winter-mia-mcpherson-2414.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/common-goldeneye-drake-1st-winter-mia-mcpherson-2414.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":53204,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/07\/24\/first-winter-drake-common-goldeneye-close-up-close-to-home\/","url_meta":{"origin":108781,"position":3},"title":"First Winter Drake Common Goldeneye Close Up & Close To Home","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This first winter Common Goldeneye drake had no issues with getting close to me as I photographed it on a chilly December afternoon.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"First winter drake Common Goldeneye close up, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/common-goldeneye-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-2909.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/common-goldeneye-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-2909.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/common-goldeneye-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-2909.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/common-goldeneye-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-2909.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11917,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/12\/15\/a-first-winter-common-goldeneye-male\/","url_meta":{"origin":108781,"position":4},"title":"First winter Common Goldeneye male","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 15, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Common Goldeneyes are diving sea ducks that over winter in the Salt Lake Valley where I see and photograph them at Bear River National Wildlife Refuge, along the causeway to Antelope Island State Park and at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"First Winter Male Common Goldeneye in an icy pond, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/common-goldeneye-icy-water-mia-mcpherson-7334.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/common-goldeneye-icy-water-mia-mcpherson-7334.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/common-goldeneye-icy-water-mia-mcpherson-7334.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/common-goldeneye-icy-water-mia-mcpherson-7334.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49819,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/12\/13\/common-goldeneyes-in-northern-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":108781,"position":5},"title":"Common Goldeneyes in Northern Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 13, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The number of birds in a specific location can increase and decrease substantially from one day to the next and that happened with Common Goldeneyes at my local pond in northern Utah when their numbers increased considerably.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"First winter male Common Goldeneyes displaying, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/common-goldeneyes-1st-winter-males-mia-mcpherson-2830.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/common-goldeneyes-1st-winter-males-mia-mcpherson-2830.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/common-goldeneyes-1st-winter-males-mia-mcpherson-2830.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/common-goldeneyes-1st-winter-males-mia-mcpherson-2830.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\/108781","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=108781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}