{"id":77452,"date":"2021-01-07T06:14:13","date_gmt":"2021-01-07T13:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=77452"},"modified":"2025-09-14T07:34:40","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T12:34:40","slug":"common-goldeneye-making-waves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/01\/07\/common-goldeneye-making-waves\/","title":{"rendered":"Common Goldeneye Making Waves"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CommonCommon Goldeneye with an interesting water formation \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday morning I took a series of a Common Goldeneye making waves as he landed in icy cold water in the marshes of Bear River MBR. The light angle wasn’t great and because of that we can’t see the green iridescence of the drake’s head in my photos. I might have deleted these photos except for the wave formations.<\/p>\n

It was the waves and water stirred up by the landing male Common Goldeneye in my photos that caught my eyes. In this first photo of the landing drake Common Goldeneye my fast shutter speed froze the motion of the wave he created when he touched down on the surface of the water. This particular wave reminded me of the Art Nouveau<\/span><\/a> period that occurred between 1890 and 1910.<\/p>\n

Curvy, flowing, and sinuous. This wave could have been crafted from clear crystal.<\/p>\n

These three photos are in sequential order.<\/p>\n

\"BowBow wave and a landing Common Goldeneye \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The artists during the Art Nouveau period drew inspiration from nature and during that period the works of the artists showed a sense of free movement and energy. The waves in these photos of the landing Common Goldeneye in my opinion are a wonderful example of movement and energy in nature. The bow wave in front of this drake may look frozen in this photo. We know that it wasn’t and that it was packed with energy.<\/p>\n

On close inspection I can even make out the goldeneye’s shape and colors through the crystalline wave.<\/p>\n

\"CommonCommon Goldeneye as seen through a water bubble \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The last photo of this series shows a big bubble in front of the drake Common Goldeneye’s chin and bill as the energy from the bow wave started to disperse.<\/p>\n

It is said that art imitates nature and in these three photos I can certainly see how it can.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Yesterday morning I took a series of a Common Goldeneye making waves as he landed in icy cold water in the marshes of Bear River MBR.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":155976,"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":[124,27,1148,962,26],"tags":[10835,10834,8295,10833,4238,4520,4753,1129,126,6348,5586,4064,4123,4094,4092,2688,3996,10831,2063,5424,10832,373],"class_list":["post-77452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-common-goldeneyes","category-utah","tag-art-imitates-nature","tag-art-nouveau","tag-bow-wave","tag-bubble","tag-bucephala-clangula","tag-common-goldeneye","tag-diving-ducks","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-goldeneye","tag-goldeneyes","tag-ice","tag-landing","tag-marsh","tag-refuge","tag-splashing","tag-water","tag-water-formations","tag-waterfowl","tag-wave","tag-wave-formation","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/common-goldeneye-glassy-water-mia-mcpherson-4399.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-k9e","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":77452,"position":0},"title":"My 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I couldn't help myself.","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":"Two drake Common Goldeneyes in winter, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/common-goldeneye-drakes-winter-mia-mcpherson-7071.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-drakes-winter-mia-mcpherson-7071.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/common-goldeneye-drakes-winter-mia-mcpherson-7071.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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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, 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, 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