{"id":11917,"date":"2013-12-15T05:08:21","date_gmt":"2013-12-15T11:08:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=11917"},"modified":"2025-09-13T12:18:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T17:18:49","slug":"a-first-winter-common-goldeneye-male","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/12\/15\/a-first-winter-common-goldeneye-male\/","title":{"rendered":"First winter Common Goldeneye male"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FirstFirst winter Male Common Goldeneye in an icy pond – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Common Goldeneyes are diving sea ducks that\u00a0over winter in the Salt Lake Valley where\u00a0I see and photograph them at Bear River National Wildlife Refuge<\/span><\/a>, along the causeway to Antelope Island State Park<\/a><\/span> and at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0I photographed this first winter male Common Goldeneye a few days ago at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area. By next winter; if he survives that long, he will have his full adult plumage.<\/p>\n

The snow on the ground and the Phragmites reflected on the water is what created the delightful patterns around the Goldeneye.<\/p>\n

Common Goldeneyes are cavity nesting ducks and I have seen them nesting\u00a0in cavities on\u00a0rocky cliffs in southwestern Montana. I admit it does look a bit strange to me to see a duck flying right towards a cliff wall to land and perch on\u00a0 top of rocks. \u00a0They breed in the northern U.S. and in Canada.<\/p>\n

\"CommonMale Common Goldeneye partially submerged\u00a0– Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This image and the following one were taken as the Common Goldeneye came up from a dive, I like how the water covers the duck and how the head has a sheet of water over it. That golden eye certainly stands out well.<\/p>\n

\"CommonCommon Goldeneye popping up from a dive\u00a0– Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This frame, taken immediately after the one above shows how quickly the water is shed off of the ducks head.<\/p>\n

Common Goldeneyes are also found in Scandinavia and Russia, Scotland, and Britain, fortunately we don’t have to travel that far to see and photograph them!<\/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":"

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":155764,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,962,697,26],"tags":[405,4238,10964,4520,4478,4753,4483,1129,126,6348,5586,6241,4062,4094,1984,10963,3996,2063,4095,373],"class_list":["post-11917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-common-goldeneyes","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-utah","tag-1st-winter","tag-bucephala-clangula","tag-cavity-nesting","tag-common-goldeneye","tag-dive","tag-diving-ducks","tag-drake","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-goldeneye","tag-goldeneyes","tag-icy","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-pond","tag-submerged","tag-water","tag-waterfowl","tag-wetlands","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/common-goldeneye-icy-water-mia-mcpherson-7334.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-36d","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":107941,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/11\/12\/my-first-of-season-common-goldeneye\/","url_meta":{"origin":11917,"position":0},"title":"My First Of Season Common Goldeneye","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 12, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I found my first of season Common Goldeneye near a stand of rushes while walking around a local pond after a light skiff of snow had fallen overnight.","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":"First of season drake Common Goldeneye in Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/common-goldeneye-fos-mia-mcpherson-3471.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/common-goldeneye-fos-mia-mcpherson-3471.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I had fun photographing the Common Raven and the Common Goldeneyes yesterday and even though the cold temps made my fingers numb, these birds were the highlight of my day.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult female and 1st winter Common Goldeneyes on the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/common-goldeneyes-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-9429.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-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-9429.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Goldeneye, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/common-goldeneye-drake-landing-mia-mcpherson-5921.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/common-goldeneye-drake-landing-mia-mcpherson-5921.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/common-goldeneye-drake-landing-mia-mcpherson-5921.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/common-goldeneye-drake-landing-mia-mcpherson-5921.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55274,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/12\/12\/first-winter-common-goldeneye-drake-mid-dive-in-northern-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":11917,"position":4},"title":"First Winter Common Goldeneye Drake Mid-dive In Northern Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 12, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I like this image because I was able to capture the eye of this diving first winter drake Common Goldeneye just as it is about to go below the surface of the pond but I also like what is going on with the water in this frame too.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"First winter Common Goldeneye drake mid-dive, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/common-goldeneye-first-winter-male-mia-mcpherson-0493.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-first-winter-male-mia-mcpherson-0493.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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