{"id":11528,"date":"2013-12-03T05:20:23","date_gmt":"2013-12-03T12:20:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=11528"},"modified":"2025-02-07T12:24:36","modified_gmt":"2025-02-07T18:24:36","slug":"mountain-plover-on-antelope-island-state-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/12\/03\/mountain-plover-on-antelope-island-state-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Mountain Plover on Antelope Island State Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"HandsomeMountain Plover on Antelope Island State Park – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 640, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Eight months ago I spotted two Mountain Plovers on Antelope Island State Park and I am still blown away by seeing and photographing those beautiful shorebirds who are uncommon in Utah. They are uncommon enough that my sighting of these two birds was only the tenth record accepted by the Utah Bird Records Committee<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

I have to wonder\u00a0since these plovers winter in California and Arizona and breed to the north and east of Utah\u00a0if they aren’t in Utah more often than we know. Maybe in the spring they rest for a bit on golf courses and sod farms in Utah which would provide the low vegetation they prefer.<\/p>\n

I know\u00a0that I will be keeping an eye out for them in the spring but it is possible to see them even in December as the 9th confirmed sighting in Utah of a Mountain Plover before mine\u00a0was by Mike Hearell on Christmas Day of 2012.<\/p>\n

I might have missed these lovely Mountain Plovers on Antelope Island State Park if I hadn’t focused my lens on a pair of tiny shorebirds in the distance. I know for sure there are other people who would have missed seeing them if I hadn’t found, pointed out, and shared my sighting of the two plovers.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Mountain Plover photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eight months ago I spotted two Mountain Plovers on Antelope Island State Park and I am still blown away by seeing and photographing those beautiful shorebirds who are uncommon in Utah.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":139499,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,27,1022,2188,7646,26],"tags":[4004,2190,4053,4062,2189,5841,275,1902,2191,274,165,11137],"class_list":["post-11528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-mountain-plovers","category-rarities","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-anarhynchus-montanus","tag-breeding-plumage","tag-male","tag-mountain-plover","tag-plover","tag-plovers","tag-rare","tag-rarity","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-spring","tag-utah-bird-records-committee"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-spring-utah-mia-mcpherson-6058.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-2ZW","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":68022,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/04\/07\/my-rare-mountain-plover-sighting-happened-almost-seven-years-ago\/","url_meta":{"origin":11528,"position":0},"title":"My Rare Mountain Plover Sighting Happened Almost Seven Years Ago","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 7, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"My rare Mountain Plover sighting happened almost seven years ago on Antelope Island State Park when I spotted, identified and photographed of the plovers during spring migration.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Resting female Mountain Plover, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-female-resting-mia-mcpherson-6811.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-female-resting-mia-mcpherson-6811.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-female-resting-mia-mcpherson-6811.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-female-resting-mia-mcpherson-6811.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8072,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/04\/10\/mountain-plovers-a-dream-come-true\/","url_meta":{"origin":11528,"position":1},"title":"Mountain Plovers – A Dream Come True","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"What I saw through my lens was a Mountain Plover, a bird I have long dreamed of seeing. A rarity here in Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Alert Mountain Plover male, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-mia-mcpherson-6534.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-mia-mcpherson-6534.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-mia-mcpherson-6534.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-mia-mcpherson-6534.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-male-grasses-mia-mcpherson-7157.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-male-grasses-mia-mcpherson-7157.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-male-grasses-mia-mcpherson-7157.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/mountain-plover-male-grasses-mia-mcpherson-7157.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8081,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/04\/11\/more-mountain-plover-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":11528,"position":3},"title":"More Mountain Plover Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 11, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I 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