{"id":53204,"date":"2018-07-24T05:32:43","date_gmt":"2018-07-24T11:32:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=53204"},"modified":"2024-11-12T02:54:52","modified_gmt":"2024-11-12T08:54:52","slug":"first-winter-drake-common-goldeneye-close-up-close-to-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/07\/24\/first-winter-drake-common-goldeneye-close-up-close-to-home\/","title":{"rendered":"First Winter Drake Common Goldeneye Close Up & Close To Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

The summer heat here in northern Utah has begun to get to me and I’ve spent time over the last few days looking at images I have taken during the winter because they remind me that there are colder days to come. I know it has been scorching hot all over the country and many of us wish we’d get a break.<\/p>\n

\"FirstFirst winter drake Common Goldeneye close up – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though this past winter wasn’t as cold or as snowy as it should have been and I never once put on my heavy winter coat, thinking about the colder temps and snow of winter does cool me down some.<\/p>\n

Last December there were plenty of ducks on the pond that is close to where I live, some of those ducks I only see in the colder months of the year so they remind me of cooler days.<\/p>\n

Common Goldeneyes are ducks I see during the late fall, winter and early spring and fortunately for me they often visit the pond that is close to home.<\/p>\n

This first winter Common Goldeneye drake had no issues with getting close to me as I photographed it on a chilly December afternoon.<\/p>\n

Maybe it got close because it was young and inexperienced, maybe it got close because it thought I might feed it, I can’t say for sure but I enjoyed the fact that it got close to me and seemed to be giving me the stink eye.<\/p>\n

Not that I am wishing the summer away but it is nice to take a short break and dream of cooler days.<\/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":"

This first winter Common Goldeneye drake had no issues with getting close to me as I photographed it on a chilly December afternoon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":136695,"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":[27,962,709,26],"tags":[4238,142,4142,4520,4753,4483,1129,126,2450,5586,4067,4062,8018,2063,373],"class_list":["post-53204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-common-goldeneyes","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-bucephala-clangula","tag-close-to-home","tag-close-up","tag-common-goldeneye","tag-diving-ducks","tag-drake","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-first-winter","tag-goldeneyes","tag-immature","tag-male","tag-urban","tag-waterfowl","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/common-goldeneye-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-2909.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-dQ8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":118604,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/28\/first-of-season-common-goldeneye\/","url_meta":{"origin":53204,"position":0},"title":"First Of Season Common Goldeneye","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Three days ago, I found my first-of-season Common Goldeneye drake at my local pond. I didn't have my camera with me, so I wasn't able to photograph him.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake Common Goldeneye settling down, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/common-goldeneye-drake-winter-mia-mcpherson-7243.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/common-goldeneye-drake-winter-mia-mcpherson-7243.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/common-goldeneye-drake-winter-mia-mcpherson-7243.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/common-goldeneye-drake-winter-mia-mcpherson-7243.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":122111,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/02\/27\/drake-common-goldeneyes-in-winter\/","url_meta":{"origin":53204,"position":1},"title":"Drake Common Goldeneyes In Winter","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 27, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"When I took this photo of two drake Common Goldeneyes at Bear River MBR almost two years ago, I was laughing as I hit my shutter button. 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Goldeneye","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 29, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm anxious to start photographing the ducks I see close to home during the winter here in the Salt Lake Valley and from what I understand a few Common Goldeneyes have shown up.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Landing adult drake Common 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, 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