{"id":18711,"date":"2015-01-19T06:49:10","date_gmt":"2015-01-19T13:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=18711"},"modified":"2025-10-28T06:32:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T11:32:29","slug":"a-few-winter-birds-at-farmington-bay-and-flapping-wings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/01\/19\/a-few-winter-birds-at-farmington-bay-and-flapping-wings\/","title":{"rendered":"A Few Winter Birds At Farmington Bay And Flapping Wings"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NorthernNorthern Harrier on the wing – Nikon D300, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 640, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I looked through some images and edited a few from the 26th of January from last year at Farmington Bay WMA. There were plenty of Northern Harriers on the wing that morning but most of them stayed too far away to get decent images. This one flew in close and I was able to get a few frames before it flew away. Nice of the harrier to give me eye contact and show the complete underside of its wing. Love those feather patterns.<\/p>\n

\"CommonCommon Merganser at Farmington Bay – Nikon D300, f8, 1\/800, ISO 500, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

There was also a single Common Merganser amongst the coots and grebes at the four-way and I photographed it as it rested, floated, fed, scratched, preened…<\/p>\n

\"CommonCommon Merganser wing flap – Nikon D300, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

And flapped its wings. I think their narrow serrated bills are fascinating and that they are handsome birds. I see them far more often in the winter than I do any other time of the year.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Blue Heron on the wing – Nikon D300, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Later I heard a familiar squawk and was able to get a few frames of a Great Blue Heron on the wing. It came in fairly close and I was happy that in this frame that I didn’t clip the wings because there were a few other images I took where I did.<\/p>\n

\"Pied-billedPied-billed Grebe flapping its wings – Nikon D300, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Pied-billed Grebes gather where the water is open, ice-free and there always seems to be quite a few at the four-way at Farmington Bay. They seem to rest, preen and feed at the same. It is as if one starts an activity and the others can’t resist. And that holds true for wing flapping. One starts…<\/p>\n

\"AnotherAnother Pied-billed Grebe flapping its wings – Nikon D300, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

And before long more of them flap their wings too. They can some times flap like this for a minute or more with everything out of the water but their big, funny looking feet. I must have seen nearly a dozen of these saucy little grebes flapping their wings over and over that day.<\/p>\n

\"Pied-billedPied-billed Grebe wing lift – Nikon D300, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Some times the Pied-billed Grebes just lift their wings and hold them over their bodies like shown above but quite often this is the pose I will see when one of the grebes finishes wing flapping.<\/p>\n

Maybe when the weather clears tomorrow I’ll be able to get back out Farmington Bay to photograph more birds.<\/p>\n

Life is good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my photos of birds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maybe when the weather clears tomorrow I’ll be able to get back out Farmington Bay to photograph more birds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":146443,"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":[27,476,1022,697,166,348,135,26],"tags":[4117,765,976,1129,126,3987,877,707,2783,3164,627,626,4705,4704,4239,4006,4009,4166,4489,373],"class_list":["post-18711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-common-mergansers","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-great-blue-herons","category-northern-harriers","category-pied-billed-grebes","category-utah","tag-ardea-herodias","tag-circus-hudsonius","tag-common-merganser","tag-duck","tag-ducks-2","tag-great-blue-heron","tag-grebe","tag-grebes-2","tag-harrier","tag-harriers","tag-heron","tag-herons","tag-merganser","tag-mergansers","tag-mergus-merganser","tag-northern-harrier","tag-pied-billed-grebe","tag-podilymbus-podiceps","tag-wing-flap","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-flapping-mia-mcpherson-7026.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-4RN","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3409,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/10\/28\/taking-a-look-back-on-a-few-previous-autumn-birds\/","url_meta":{"origin":18711,"position":0},"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, 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McPherson","date":"January 27, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I spotted a lone Common Merganser at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area nearly hidden in some phragmites and when we came around the corner the bird seemed to have disappeared but after a bit it came out from its hiding spot and gave us quite a show.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Wing-flapping Common Merganser on ice, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-shoreline-mia-mcpherson-7347.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/common-merganser-shoreline-mia-mcpherson-7347.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Coots","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gruiformes\/american-coots\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Northern Harrier in flight over a marsh at Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-flight-mia-mcpherson-4627.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-flight-mia-mcpherson-4627.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-flight-mia-mcpherson-4627.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-flight-mia-mcpherson-4627.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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an immature female Northern Harrier that I took ten years ago at Farmington Bay WMA.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature female Northern Harrier scanning the marsh while in flight, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/northern-harrier-immature-female-winter-mia-mcpherson-9180.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/northern-harrier-immature-female-winter-mia-mcpherson-9180.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/northern-harrier-immature-female-winter-mia-mcpherson-9180.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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