{"id":12964,"date":"2014-01-09T05:50:29","date_gmt":"2014-01-09T11:50:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=12964"},"modified":"2025-11-22T05:41:20","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T11:41:20","slug":"male-american-kestrel-resting-near-the-shore-of-the-great-salt-lake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/01\/09\/male-american-kestrel-resting-near-the-shore-of-the-great-salt-lake\/","title":{"rendered":"Male American Kestrel Resting Near The Shore Of The Great Salt Lake"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AmericanMale American Kestrel resting near the shore of the Great Salt Lake – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/2500, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm\u00a0VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I was going to do a post about a Bald Eagle this morning but at the last minute had a change of mind and decided to work up this male American Kestrel that I photographed resting near the shore of the Great Salt Lake.<\/p>\n

The causeway to Antelope Island State Park<\/span> <\/a>used to be a great place to find and photograph these handsome little falcons but over the past two winters I have not seen nearly as many.<\/p>\n

That may be because of a decline in the vole population. At least I hope they have moved to more fertile hunting grounds and that it isn’t because the kestrel population in Utah is declining.<\/p>\n

This image was taken two years ago this month when the level of the Great Salt Lake was higher than it is now. If I were to photograph a kestrel on this same bush today the background would be that of the mudflats not the beautiful blue water seen in this photo.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I was going to do a post about a Bald Eagle this morning but at the last minute had a change of mind and decided to work up this male American Kestrel that I photographed resting near the shore of the Great Salt Lake. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":164427,"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":[152,511,27,1022,26],"tags":[4004,155,2663,4199,4078,4279,4005,5993,6276,4892,11484,4062,4289,4156,373],"class_list":["post-12964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-kestrel","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-american-kestrel","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-falco-sparverius","tag-falcon","tag-falcons","tag-great-salt-lake","tag-hypersaline-lake","tag-kestrel","tag-kestrels","tag-lakeshore","tag-male","tag-rabbitbrush","tag-resting","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-male-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-7510.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-3n6","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":108991,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/12\/25\/christmas-day-american-kestrel\/","url_meta":{"origin":12964,"position":0},"title":"Christmas Day American Kestrel","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this Christmas Day American Kestrel in 2020 at Farmington Bay WMA. That Christmas Day was bright and sunny, today isn't going to be at all.","rel":"","context":"In "American Kestrels"","block_context":{"text":"American Kestrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/falcons\/american-kestrel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Christmas Day American Kestrel, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/american-kestrel-christmas-day-male-mia-mcpherson-3425.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/american-kestrel-christmas-day-male-mia-mcpherson-3425.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/american-kestrel-christmas-day-male-mia-mcpherson-3425.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/american-kestrel-christmas-day-male-mia-mcpherson-3425.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":44862,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/02\/09\/male-american-kestrel-resting-and-preening\/","url_meta":{"origin":12964,"position":1},"title":"Male American Kestrel Resting and Preening – One Good Bird Can Make the Day","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I have mentioned before how one good bird can make a day and yesterday that bird was a male American Kestrel resting and preening at Farmington Bay WMA.","rel":"","context":"In "American Kestrels"","block_context":{"text":"American Kestrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/falcons\/american-kestrel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Kestrel male standing on one foot, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-male-resting-mia-mcpherson-4803.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-male-resting-mia-mcpherson-4803.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-male-resting-mia-mcpherson-4803.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-male-resting-mia-mcpherson-4803.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":108592,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/12\/10\/female-american-kestrel-urban-birds\/","url_meta":{"origin":12964,"position":2},"title":"Female American Kestrel – Urban Birds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I was thrilled to have this female American Kestrel in my neighborhood and viewfinder after an overnight snow fell two days ago.","rel":"","context":"In "American Kestrels"","block_context":{"text":"American Kestrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/falcons\/american-kestrel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female American Kestrel on a snowy light, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/american-kestrel-adult-female-light-snow-mia-mcpherson-5862.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/american-kestrel-adult-female-light-snow-mia-mcpherson-5862.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/american-kestrel-adult-female-light-snow-mia-mcpherson-5862.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/american-kestrel-adult-female-light-snow-mia-mcpherson-5862.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3957,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/01\/06\/a-preening-american-kestrel-friday-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":12964,"position":3},"title":"Preening American Kestrel ~ Friday Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 6, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"American Kestrels hold a special interest for me, they are North America's smallest falcon but what they lack in size they make up for in attitude. These falcons can be fiesty.","rel":"","context":"In "American Kestrels"","block_context":{"text":"American Kestrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/falcons\/american-kestrel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male American Kestrel resting on rabbitbrush, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-male-mia-mcpherson-4151.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-male-mia-mcpherson-4151.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-male-mia-mcpherson-4151.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Rabbitbrush","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 30, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I know a lot of people are suffering because of the heat of summer so I though I would post an image of a male American Kestrel perched on a frosty Rabbitbrush.","rel":"","context":"In "American Kestrels"","block_context":{"text":"American Kestrels","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/falcons\/american-kestrel\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Frosty rabbitbrush and a male American Kestrel, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-rabbitbrush-male-mia-mcpherson-1693.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-kestrel-rabbitbrush-male-mia-mcpherson-1693.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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