{"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, 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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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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, 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