{"id":118614,"date":"2023-11-29T04:38:15","date_gmt":"2023-11-29T11:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=118614"},"modified":"2023-11-29T04:39:08","modified_gmt":"2023-11-29T11:39:08","slug":"frosty-northern-harrier-in-utah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/29\/frosty-northern-harrier-in-utah\/","title":{"rendered":"Frosty Northern Harrier In Utah"},"content":{"rendered":"

This photo of a frosty Northern Harrier was taken almost five years ago. Although the harrier is small in the frame, I still find the image visually appealing.<\/p>\n

\"FrostyFrosty Northern Harrier on the ground \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I was photographing birds at Farmington Bay WMA that morning almost five years ago. Temps were below freezing, and everything, including some of the birds, was covered in frost.<\/p>\n

Just before the sun lit up the marsh, I spotted and pointed out the young male harrier perched on a dirt clod. Even the clods of dirt were frosty. The harrier may have even looked like a dirt clod to some people.<\/p>\n

By waiting just a few seconds, the sun lit up the Northern Harrier and the marshy area around him. The images I took of this young hawk had a lovely glow to them.<\/p>\n

When I saw this photo in my archives, it reminded me of a small in frame harrier image that my dear friend Steve Creek shared on his blog this month<\/span><\/a>. His harrier was perched on a speed limit sign at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma with fall colors in the background. The harrier he photographed was also frosty, and the photo showed glowing morning light.<\/p>\n

I find both mine and Steve’s harrier photos interesting and appealing, even though they are in two different states. Plus, both images show how well-equipped these hawks are for surviving the cold winter temperatures in both locations.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
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I haven’t been able to photograph many Northern Harriers so far this autumn; most of the harriers I have seen have been too far away. I’m looking forward to having them in my viewfinder again, close up or far away, frosted or unfrosted!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

This photo of a frosty Northern Harrier was taken almost five years ago. Although the harrier is small in the frame, I still find the image visually appealing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":118611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,1022,697,348,26],"tags":[970,2663,765,14582,4620,3983,368,5943,2783,3164,5381,4169,4064,4067,4062,4094,767,4006,153,6917,3996,4095,14581],"class_list":["post-118614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-northern-harriers","category-utah","tag-autumn","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-circus-hudsonius","tag-dirt-clods","tag-fall","tag-frost","tag-frosty","tag-ground","tag-harrier","tag-harriers","tag-hatch-year","tag-hawks","tag-ice","tag-immature","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-marsh-hawk","tag-northern-harrier","tag-raptors","tag-vegetation","tag-water","tag-wetlands","tag-youn"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/northern-harrier-immature-male-on-ground-mia-mcpherson-2196.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-uR8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":75615,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/12\/01\/frosty-female-northern-harrier-in-flight\/","url_meta":{"origin":118614,"position":0},"title":"Frosty Female Northern Harrier In Flight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 1, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I saw a few harriers on the wing yesterday at Farmington Bay WMA and I was able to take a few photos of a female Northern Harrier that still had frost on her nape.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Frosty adult female Northern Harrier in flight, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-female-frosty-flight-mia-mcpherson-6693.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-female-frosty-flight-mia-mcpherson-6693.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/davis-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Northern Harrier with the Wasatch Range in the background, photographed from Farmington Bay, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/northern-harrier-flight-mia-mcpherson-0622.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/northern-harrier-flight-mia-mcpherson-0622.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/northern-harrier-flight-mia-mcpherson-0622.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/northern-harrier-flight-mia-mcpherson-0622.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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to ten years ago but the marshes have changed some since I moved to northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Northern Harrier hovering while on the hunt, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/northern-harrier-hovering-mia-mcpherson-3217.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/northern-harrier-hovering-mia-mcpherson-3217.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/northern-harrier-hovering-mia-mcpherson-3217.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Flight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 29, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I was able to photograph this young Northern Harrier flying over a marsh on a trip up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.","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":"Young Northern Harrier flying over a marsh, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/northern-harrier-immature-female-flight-mia-mcpherson-2210.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/northern-harrier-immature-female-flight-mia-mcpherson-2210.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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