{"id":19213,"date":"2015-01-30T05:33:08","date_gmt":"2015-01-30T12:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=19213"},"modified":"2026-02-22T09:41:55","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T15:41:55","slug":"a-failed-quest-for-gold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/01\/30\/a-failed-quest-for-gold\/","title":{"rendered":"Failed Quest for Gold – Golden Eagles That Is"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ClippedClipped Golden Eagle<\/span><\/p>\n

If you have been following my blog for even a short while you know I bemoan the fact that Golden Eagles are a nemesis bird for me. It never, ever fails that when I have an opportunity to photograph Golden Eagles something always goes wrong. Bad light, no light, too far away, can’t lock on, too close, back lit, vibrations from the vehicle, obstructions in front of the bird, fog, snow, wires all over the place, a vehicle or person scares off the bird before a shot can be fired. Something always<\/em> happens.<\/p>\n

Yesterday wasn’t any different. I first found a perched Golden Eagle yesterday in the shadow of a building on Antelope Island State Park<\/span><\/a>. The sun was lighting up the background but the eagle was in the dark. When it did take off the few shots I got had stuff in front of the bird. Figures, right? Due to the focal length of my lens I was too close any way because all the shots were clipped.<\/p>\n

\"BackBack lit Golden Eagle pair<\/span><\/p>\n

I saw a second bird follow the first one in flight, it had been hidden below the hill. I could see where both eagles flew to and landed.<\/p>\n

And of course when I could get close… the eagles were back lit and the background was a milky white sky. When they took off they had their backs to me. I wasn’t surprised. But it wasn’t over yet.<\/p>\n

\"PairPair of Golden Eagles on Lady Finger Point<\/span><\/p>\n

There was another vehicle there, a rather noisy diesel pickup and thinking the truck might make the birds take flight in some decent light I went way around the rocks they were perched on and hoped they would fly my way.<\/p>\n

No such luck, I had hoped they would fly south and the eagles flew north and landed on some rocks. With a decent light angle. Just too far away.<\/p>\n

Well the guy in the pickup saw the eagles too and tried to walk up on them slowly. I knew the eagles would fly and hoped they would swing west into some beautiful light.<\/p>\n

When they flew they went east and the light was cruddy. They landed near the visitor’s center but flew off again.<\/p>\n

\"CoyoteCoyote with a Jackrabbit stolen from a Golden Eagle<\/span><\/p>\n

I saw where the pair of Golden Eagles went over the hill and I headed that way. One of the eagles had captured a jackrabbit and had coyotes in hot pursuit as it struggled to lift off and take flight, the second eagle was on the ground observing the action and of course I couldn’t get a clear shot of it because there were mullein stems obstructing the view. The Golden Eagle with the jackrabbit dropped its prey and one of the coyotes snatched it up and ran away with another coyote on its tail.<\/p>\n

\"CoyoteCoyote crossing the road with the Golden Eagle’s prey<\/span><\/p>\n

And do you think the light could be good on the coyote with the jackrabbit in its jaws? Nah. The photography gods weren’t smiling on me. Not a bit. Not even a little.<\/p>\n

\"GoldenGolden Eagle and a Black-billed Magpie<\/span><\/p>\n

The Golden Eagle that had been hidden in the mulleins lifted off and landed in front of me in good light. Not close though, that was simply asking too much. A Black-billed Magpie flew in to check out the eagle and the other eagle that was just outside of the frame. Out of nowhere more coyotes raced in towards the eagles, perhaps they thought the eagles had more prey for them to steal. They didn’t.<\/p>\n

\"GoldenGolden Eagle pair after being chased by Coyotes<\/span><\/p>\n

And when the coyotes got close the Golden Eagles took off and all I got was a bunch of butt shots. Figures right? Good light, butt shots. Bad light and close shots.<\/p>\n

The story doesn’t end there but the images I took of the eagles after this were even cruddier and I will just tell the story.<\/p>\n

There was a third Golden Eagle that flew in when all the action was taking place and I saw where it flew to and I headed that way. It had<\/em> to be high on a hill where the light wasn’t great, right?\u00a0 And behind me (where the light was worse) I could see some coyote craziness going on.<\/p>\n

There must have been 8 or 9 coyotes running, chasing after each other while zig-zagging through the sagebrush on the side of the hill. They moved so quickly I really couldn’t get an accurate count of how many there were. In fact I have never seen such a frenzied coyote chase.<\/p>\n

They ran up towards the ridge of the hill where the eagle sat on a rock but they didn’t get close enough to make that eagle fly. Still, I hoped the eagle would fly my way. Then out of no where an eagle flies up behind the perched bird and they both fly off. Too far away. Cruddy light angle. Not an image worth keeping. Again, I wasn’t surprised.<\/p>\n

\"JanuaryJanuary Horned Lark<\/span><\/p>\n

I did get a little gold though when I took this Horned Lark image. Golden tones in the face and golden lichen on the boulder. A lovely consolation prize.<\/p>\n

I won’t give up on the Goldens. One day it has to work out.<\/p>\n

Right?<\/p>\n

Life; as frustrating as it can be, is good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

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

It never, ever fails that when I have an opportunity to photograph Golden Eagles something always goes wrong.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":118172,"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":[511,27,100,1022,1200,436,26],"tags":[4345,733,4284,4002,3903,3133,4181,1023,1201,1327,8720,6433,2136,6005,5536,4106,153,4057],"class_list":["post-19213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-coyotes","category-davis-county-utah","category-golden-eagles","category-horned-larks","category-utah","tag-aquila-chrysaetos","tag-canis-latrans","tag-chase","tag-coyote","tag-eagle","tag-eagles","tag-eremophila-alpestris","tag-frustrations-in-bird-photography1","tag-golden-eagle","tag-horned-lark","tag-jackrabbit","tag-lark","tag-larks-2","tag-magpie","tag-nemesis","tag-prey","tag-raptors","tag-sagebrush"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/golden-eagle-pair-mia-mcpherson-7688.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-4ZT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":100203,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/02\/25\/the-golden-eagle-utahs-official-state-bird-of-prey\/","url_meta":{"origin":19213,"position":0},"title":"The Golden Eagle – Utah’s Official State Bird Of Prey","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I would like to celebrate the State of Utah's newly designated official state bird of prey, the Golden Eagle.","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":"Close up Golden Eagle in flight, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/golden-eagle-flight-close-up-mia-mcpherson-9218.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/golden-eagle-flight-close-up-mia-mcpherson-9218.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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have thus far been a nemesis bird for me and when I spotted one yesterday I thought I might finally get the shots I have long wanted.","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":"Golden Eagle in flight over Antelope Island SP, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/golden-eagle-utah-mia-mcpherson-1234.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/golden-eagle-utah-mia-mcpherson-1234.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/golden-eagle-utah-mia-mcpherson-1234.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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few images of a Golden Eagle yesterday morning as it perched on some huge, ancient boulders in early morning light.","rel":"","context":"In "Golden Eagles"","block_context":{"text":"Golden Eagles","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/diurnal-raptors\/golden-eagles\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Golden Eagle in flight over ancient boulders, Wayne County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/golden-eagle-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-6906.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/golden-eagle-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-6906.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/golden-eagle-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-6906.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/golden-eagle-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-6906.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":50807,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/01\/31\/golden-eagle-soaring-over-the-great-salt-lake\/","url_meta":{"origin":19213,"position":5},"title":"Golden Eagle soaring over the Great Salt Lake","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 31, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Three years ago today I found and photographed a Golden Eagle that was soaring along the east side of Antelope Island over 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":"Golden Eagle soaring over the Great Salt Lake close to Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, 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