{"id":20564,"date":"2015-02-24T05:35:21","date_gmt":"2015-02-24T12:35:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=20564"},"modified":"2025-10-03T08:58:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T13:58:11","slug":"a-gray-ghost-on-a-gray-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/02\/24\/a-gray-ghost-on-a-gray-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Gray Ghost On A Gray Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GrayGray Ghost – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 800, +1.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 270mm, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The lighting conditions were poor at best, but the harrier was cooperative and made several passes close to the edge of the road, some times so close I had to zoom back to get the entire harrier in the frame.<\/p>\n

Three years ago it was common for me to be able to photograph harriers along the causeway to and from the island but this past winter seeing them there hasn’t been common at all.<\/p>\n

It might be because the lake has receded far from the shoreline, this incredibly mild winter, a low vole population, or a local decline in the population of Northern Harriers.<\/p>\n

I can’t be sure, it might be all of the reasons listed.<\/p>\n

What I can be sure of is the excitement I feel having a Gray Ghost in my viewfinder, gray day or not.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

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

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. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":159054,"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":[4004,4021,2663,765,4052,2813,349,2783,3164,4033,4169,156,4062,767,4006,153,4050,4328,373],"class_list":["post-20564","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-adult","tag-bird-photography","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-circus-hudsonius","tag-flight","tag-gray-day","tag-gray-ghost","tag-harrier","tag-harriers","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-low-light-2","tag-male","tag-marsh-hawk","tag-northern-harrier","tag-raptors","tag-snow","tag-snowy","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-male-flight-mia-mcpherson-0179.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-5lG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4660,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/03\/20\/northern-harrier-in-flight\/","url_meta":{"origin":20564,"position":0},"title":"Northern Harrier in flight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 20, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Just an image I took yesterday of this male Northern Harrier in flight. As simple as the image is I like the great eye contact it has.","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":"Adult male 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-male-mia-mcpherson-8327.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-mia-mcpherson-8327.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-male-mia-mcpherson-8327.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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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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