{"id":12250,"date":"2013-12-23T05:58:45","date_gmt":"2013-12-23T12:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=12250"},"modified":"2025-10-03T06:37:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T11:37:02","slug":"one-gray-ghost-a-leaping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/12\/23\/one-gray-ghost-a-leaping\/","title":{"rendered":"One Gray Ghost A Leaping"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GrayGray Ghost (male Northern Harrier) lift off<\/span><\/p>\n

I couldn’t find Ten Lords a Leaping to photograph or in my archives but did locate one Gray Ghost a Leaping which tops the Lords for this bird photographer.<\/p>\n

Any time that I have a Gray Ghost in my viewfinder is a good time.<\/p>\n

I photographed this male Northern Harrier this past January at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area where he had been resting on the dried phragmites stalks when he showed signs of lifting off and I fired away.<\/p>\n

I like how his talons are still touching the perch.<\/p>\n

The harrier may look tail-less in this image but that is because\u00a0his tail is hidden by his wings.<\/p>\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":"

I couldn’t find Ten Lords a Leaping to photograph or in my archives but did locate one Gray Ghost a Leaping which tops the Lords for this bird photographer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":159000,"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":[27,697,348,26],"tags":[4004,4021,765,3981,1124,349,4033,4169,2386,1027,4282,4062,4094,767,16824,153,4050,3792,4095,373],"class_list":["post-12250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-northern-harriers","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-bird-photography","tag-circus-hudsonius","tag-davis-county","tag-field","tag-gray-ghost","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-leaping","tag-lift-off","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-marsh-hawk","tag-northern-harrer","tag-raptors","tag-snow","tag-take-off","tag-wetlands","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-gray-ghost-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-8980.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-3bA","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1454,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/11\/24\/northern-harrier-gray-ghost\/","url_meta":{"origin":12250,"position":0},"title":"Northern Harrier – Gray Ghost","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 24, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"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\".","rel":"","context":"In "Davis County"","block_context":{"text":"Davis County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/davis-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"\u201cGray Ghost\u201d, male Northern Harrier in hovering flight, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/northern-harrier-mia-mcpherson-male-flight-4804.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/northern-harrier-mia-mcpherson-male-flight-4804.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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McPherson","date":"January 31, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"2nd year male Northern Harrier, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/northern-harrier-male-transition-mia-mcpherson-0160.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/northern-harrier-male-transition-mia-mcpherson-0160.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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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 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3409,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/10\/28\/taking-a-look-back-on-a-few-previous-autumn-birds\/","url_meta":{"origin":12250,"position":5},"title":"Taking A Look Back On A Few Previous Autumn Birds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 28, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","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":"Ring-necked Pheasant male in autumn grasses and pickleweed, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ring-necked-pheasant-male-pickleweed-mia-mcpherson-2332.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/ring-necked-pheasant-male-pickleweed-mia-mcpherson-2332.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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