Drake Common Goldeneyes In A Brief Territorial Dispute

Drake Common Goldeneyes in a territorial fight – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

So far this season I have only seen one Common Goldeneye at my local pond but hopefully in a short period of time I will be seeing many more of them and I am excited about the possibility of that because not only are they handsome ducks they are also fun to photograph especially when they are feeding, displaying or fighting.

Last December I was able to photograph two Common Goldeneye drakes during a brief territorial dispute over a feeding territory. I noticed one of the drakes in a threat display, focused on that bird and then in a split second the water was splashing and the drakes were fighting.

Drake Common Goldeneye being chased – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

The drake Common Goldeneye in the back seemed to quickly assert his dominance while the one in the front was trying hard to get away from it. I believe that the drake in front was the intruder into the other’s feeding territory because it was the one being chased.

One drake Common Goldeneye in hot pursuit of another drake – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

The drake Common Goldeneyes didn’t have any physical contact that I could see because that often happens under the water but the drake in the back seemed intent on making the one in the front leave the area. I do wish I would have had a bit more depth of field so that both birds would have been sharply in focus but I would have lost some shutter speed and believe me, this action happens quickly and I needed the shutter speed I had at the time.

Drake Common Goldeneye at the end of a chase – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

At the end of the chase the intruding drake kept moving across the water and out of the reach of the other male who had stopped the pursuit. This male was still keeping at least one golden eye on the other drake in case it started to pursue it again.

Calm drake Common Goldeneye – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

At the end of the brief fight both Common Goldeneye drakes settled down and went back to floating calmly on the water while searching for prey. By that point in time you wouldn’t have known about their skirmish if you hadn’t seen it with your own eyes.

Life is good. Birds make it interesting.

Mia

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