Northern Harrier

Birds, Beasts and Bits About Me – My 500th Blog Post

By Mia McPherson|October 4th, 2012|Categories: Bald Eagles, Birds, Burrowing Owls, Coyotes, Dunlins, Florida, Laughing Gulls, Little Blue Herons, Loggerhead Shrikes, Pronghorn, Reddish Egrets, Roseate Spoonbills, Sanderlings, Utah|Tags: bird photography, bird watching, birding, Coyote, Dunlin, Florida, Laughing Gull, Little Blue Heron, Loggerhead Shrike, Northern Harrier, Pronghorn, Pronghorn Antelope, Red-winged Blackbird, Reddish Egret, Roseate Spoonbill, Sanderling, white morph|

Wow, this is my 500th blog post and it has been great fun to share my images and the stories behind them. I thought I'd share a few images and bits about my thoughts on photography.

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Farmington Utah’s Voles – Just My Opinion

By Mia McPherson|June 25th, 2012|Categories: American Kestrels, Antelope Island State Park, Conservation, Coyotes, Environment, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Glacier County, Great Blue Herons, Great Horned Owls, Loggerhead Shrikes, Montana, Northern Harriers, Rough-legged Hawks, Salt Lake Valley, Utah|Tags: American Kestrel, Coyote, ecosystem, environment, Foxboro Community, Gray Ghost, Great Blue Heron, Great Horned Owl, humane society, Loggerhead Shrike, natural predators, Northern Harrier, Rough-legged Hawk, Utah, vole infestation, voles|

Recently KSL.com; a Utah news station, had an article about a vole (a small rodent) infestation In Farmington, specifically in the neighborhood of Foxboro Community. While I sympathize with the residents about the damage being done to their yards I am disturbed by the advice many of the people commenting have left on the story.

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Northern Harrier in flight

By Mia McPherson|March 20th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: adult, birds of prey, Circus hudsonius, flight, flying, Gray Ghost, harrier, harriers, hawk, hawks, Northern Harrier, raptors, wildlife photography|

Just an image I took yesterday of this male Northern Harrier in flight. As simple as the image is I like the great eye contact it has.

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Female Northern Harrier ~ Friday Photos

By Mia McPherson|February 17th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: birds of prey, Circus hudsonius, coursing, female, flight, flying, harriers, hawks, Northern Harrier, pale yellow eye, raptors|

This female Northern Harrier was coursing along a road in search of prey and gave me great views of her pale yellow eye and bold barring under her wings.

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By Mia McPherson|January 31st, 2012|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: 2nd year, birds of prey, chattering, Circus hudsonius, desert island, diving, flight, flying, Gray Ghost, harrier, harriers, hawk, hawks, immature, low light, male, Marsh hawk, Northern Harrier, raptors, snow, winter|

This Northern Harrier displayed interesting behavior, it didn't appear to be hunting but it would dive into the vegetation where it would make a sound that reminded me of parrots chattering.

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Wild and Wonderful – Antelope Island State Park – The Birds

By Mia McPherson|January 25th, 2012|Categories: American Barn Owls, American Kestrels, American White Pelicans, Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Black-billed Magpies, Brewer's Blackbirds, Burrowing Owls, California Gulls, Chukars, Common Ravens, Davis County, Great Horned Owls, Green-winged Teals, Horned Larks, Killdeer, Long-billed Curlews, Northern Harriers, Northern Shovelers, Peregrine Falcons, Prairie Falcons, Rough-legged Hawks, Sage Thrashers, Utah, Western Meadowlarks, Willets|Tags: American Barn Owl, American Kestrel, American White Pelican, bird photography, birding, Birds of Antelope Island State Park, Black-billed Magpie, Brewer's Blackbird, Burrowing Owl, California Gull, Chukar, Common Raven, Gray Ghost, Great Horned Owl, Green-winged Teal, Horned Lark, Killdeer, Loggerhead Shrike, Northern Harrier, Northern Shoveler, Peregrine Falcon, Prairie Falcons, Rough-legged Hawk, Sage Thrasher, Western Meadowlark, Willet|

This is the third post in my series about Wild and Wonderful Antelope Island State Park, I've saved the best (and longest) for last. The Birds! Okay, maybe they aren't the best thing about Antelope Island State Park, but I am a bird photographer and they are what I am most passionate about!

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Taking A Look Back On A Few Previous Autumn Birds

By Mia McPherson|October 28th, 2011|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Northern Harriers, Pied-billed Grebes, Red-tailed Hawks, Red-winged Blackbirds, Ring-necked Pheasants, Tooele County, Utah, White-crowned Sparrows|Tags: Agelaius phoeniceus, autumn, birds of prey, blackbird, blackbirds, Buteo jamaicensis, Circus hudsonius, desert, Gray Ghost, grebe, grebes, harrier, harriers, hawk, hawks, Northern Harrier, Phasianus colchicus, pheasant, Pickleweed, Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps, Red-tailed Hawk, Red-winged Blackbird, Ring-necked Pheasant, sparrow, sparrows, White-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys|

Photographing birds during Autumn is a wonderful time for me in Utah, the beautiful fall colors delight and enthrall me, the air gets nippy and I find myself feeling a surge of energy whenever I am outdoors.

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Northern Harrier in Low Light

By Mia McPherson|May 16th, 2011|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: bird ID, bird photography, birds of prey, Circus hudsonius, falling snow, flight, fog, harrier, harriers, hawks, hovering, inversion, low light, Marsh hawk, marshes, Northern Harrier, raptors, snow, Wasatch Mountains, winter|

I don't mind the motion blur in these images and because northern harriers hunt by looking down at the ground for their prey I was very happy to get eye contact in both frames.

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Nesting Northern Harrier

By Mia McPherson|May 7th, 2011|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: adult, birds of prey, Circus hudsonius, female, flight, harrier, harriers, hawk, hawks, Hen Harrier, hovering, landing, marsh, Marsh hawk, marshes, nest, nesting, nesting material, Northern Harrier, wetlands|

Tt was the first time that I have ever seen a Northern Harrier building a nest. It more than made my day!

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So Ya Think Ya Want To Be A Bird Photographer?

By Mia McPherson|February 8th, 2011|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Burrowing Owls, Davis County, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Humor, Loggerhead Shrikes, Montana, Northern Harriers, Pinellas County, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Semipalmated Plovers, Snowy Egrets, Swainson's Hawks, Utah, Willets|Tags: Athene cunicularia, bird humor, bird photography, birding, Burrowing Owl, Buteo swainsoni, Charadrius semipalmatus, Circus hudsonius, Egretta thula, Gray Ghost, humor, Lanius ludovicianus, Loggerhead Shrike, Northern Harrier, Semipalmated Plover, Snowy Egret, Swainson's Hawk, Tringa semipalmata, Willet|

Be prepared to become addicted to birds. You will have withdrawals if you don't shoot often enough, your shutter button finger will develop a nervous twitch

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Northern Harrier Expelling A Pellet

By Mia McPherson|December 29th, 2010|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: Bird behavior, birds of prey, Circus hudsonius, hawk, hawks, nature, Northern Harrier, pellet, pellet expulsion, regugitating a pellet|

This Northern Harrier took about a minute to expel the pellet and I filled my buffer several times trying to catch all the action. The harrier appeared to be concentrating so hard on regurgitating the pellet that it nearly fell off of the fence.

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Northern Harrier Wingtip Repair

By Mia McPherson|December 25th, 2010|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: birds of prey, Circus hudsonius, harrier, harriers, hawk, hawks, nature, Northern Harrier, photoshop repair, post processing, raptor, raptors, wingtip repair|

There are times when I think an image might be worth a little extra work in post processing and this young male Northern Harrier image seemed worth the effort to repair a clipped wingtip.

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Northern Harrier – Gray Ghost

By Mia McPherson|November 24th, 2010|Categories: Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Low light, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: adult, autumn, birds of prey, Circus hudsonius, fall, flight, flying, Gray Ghost, Gray Ghosts, harrier, harriers, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, hovering, male, marsh, Northern Harrier, raptors, wetlands|

I will have more opportunities with northern harriers in better light this winter and while I wouldn't consider this image perfect, I am happy with the results I obtained while photographing this "Gray Ghost".

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