{"id":18785,"date":"2015-01-24T05:46:08","date_gmt":"2015-01-24T12:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=18785"},"modified":"2025-10-03T08:34:34","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T13:34:34","slug":"a-northern-harrier-searching-for-prey-along-the-antelope-island-causeway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/01\/24\/a-northern-harrier-searching-for-prey-along-the-antelope-island-causeway\/","title":{"rendered":"Northern Harrier Searching For Prey Along The Antelope Island Causeway"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NorthernNorthern Harrier in flight – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 400, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Three days ago I had fun photographing a Northern Harrier searching for prey along the Antelope Island Causeway.<\/p>\n

The harrier coursed over the vegetation close to the road next to the ice and mudflats.<\/p>\n

In this frame the background is ice and snow and at the very top a row of phragmites in the distance. All Northern Harriers have white rumps, even in juveniles, and that rump can make ID easier even from a distance.<\/p>\n

\"NorthernNorthern Harrier looking for voles – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/2500, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Northern Harriers spend a great deal of time looking down when they are hunting prey which can make it a challenge to get direct eye contact from them but I don’t mind that so much because it is typical behavior for this species.<\/p>\n

Mostly I like to be able to see the yellow of their eyes. This is the same harrier in the photograph at the top but it has the mudflats in the background with a bit of sky above.<\/p>\n

Because of the oddly warm winter we have had here in northern Utah I haven’t had as many opportunities to photograph Northern Harriers as I have in previous years.<\/p>\n

This is mostly because without the heavy snow cover the harriers can hunt way out in the marshes more easily and they don’t come in as close as I would like.<\/p>\n

Still, any time I can photograph a Northern Harrier is great.<\/p>\n

Life is good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Three days ago I had fun photographing a Northern Harrier searching for prey along the Antelope Island Causeway<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":159046,"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":[511,27,1022,348,26],"tags":[765,3041,4052,4122,2783,3164,4169,3970,767,4273,4006,8300,4106,4063,4018,1647,373],"class_list":["post-18785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-northern-harriers","category-utah","tag-circus-hudsonius","tag-coursing","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-harrier","tag-harriers","tag-hawks","tag-hunting","tag-marsh-hawk","tag-mudflats","tag-northern-harrier","tag-photographing","tag-prey","tag-raptor","tag-sky","tag-voles","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-gliding-breeze-mia-mcpherson-6147.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-4SZ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14349,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/02\/15\/a-northern-harrier-along-the-shore-of-the-great-salt-lake\/","url_meta":{"origin":18785,"position":0},"title":"Northern Harrier Along The Shore Of The Great Salt Lake","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Two years ago I could often find Northern Harriers hunting along the causeway to Antelope Island State Park and I photographed a series of images of this female Northern Harrier on February 16th of that year.","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":"Northern Harrier with the Great Salt Lake in the background, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/northern-harrier-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-3936.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/northern-harrier-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-3936.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/northern-harrier-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-3936.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/northern-harrier-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-3936.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6782,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/12\/13\/female-northern-harrier-in-flight\/","url_meta":{"origin":18785,"position":1},"title":"Female Northern Harrier in flight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Typically I see far more Northern Harriers in the winter here in Utah than I do during the breeding season which might be partly due to the harriers preferring to nest within marshy wetland areas which are in abundance around the Great Salt Lake.","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":"Female Northern Harrier in flight over the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/northern-harrier-female-mia-mcpherson-1446.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/northern-harrier-female-mia-mcpherson-1446.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/northern-harrier-female-mia-mcpherson-1446.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/northern-harrier-female-mia-mcpherson-1446.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20564,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/02\/24\/a-gray-ghost-on-a-gray-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":18785,"position":2},"title":"Gray Ghost On A Gray Day","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 24, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Three years ago on a very gray morning I photographed this male Northern Harrier; the Gray Ghost, in flight along the causeway to Antelope Island State Park.","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":"Gray Ghost, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-male-flight-mia-mcpherson-0179.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-male-flight-mia-mcpherson-0179.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-male-flight-mia-mcpherson-0179.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-male-flight-mia-mcpherson-0179.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13087,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/01\/10\/a-resting-northern-harrier\/","url_meta":{"origin":18785,"position":3},"title":"Resting Northern Harrier","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 10, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Farmington Bay Waterfowl Area used to be my \"go to\" place for photographing Northern Harriers but this winter they are hard to find.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Perched Northern Harrier at Farmington Bay in northern Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/northern-harrier-perched-mia-mcpherson-0099.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-perched-mia-mcpherson-0099.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/northern-harrier-perched-mia-mcpherson-0099.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8239,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/04\/29\/northern-harriers-in-flight\/","url_meta":{"origin":18785,"position":4},"title":"Northern Harriers In Flight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Northern Harriers fascinate me partly because they are sexually dimorphic; meaning that the males and females look different even though they are the same species, and also because of their owl-like facial discs.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Northern Harrier flying near the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/northern-harrier-flying-mia-mcpherson-9971.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/northern-harrier-flying-mia-mcpherson-9971.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/northern-harrier-flying-mia-mcpherson-9971.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/northern-harrier-flying-mia-mcpherson-9971.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20967,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/03\/17\/a-female-northern-harrier-in-flight\/","url_meta":{"origin":18785,"position":5},"title":"Female Northern Harrier In Flight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 17, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"But... things seem to be leveling out now much like this female Northern Harrier in flight that I photographed along the causeway to Antelope Island State Park in northern Utah in mid January.","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":"A female Northern Harrier in flight, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-flight-mia-mcpherson-6320.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-6320.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-6320.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-6320.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18785\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159046"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}