{"id":20582,"date":"2015-02-25T04:27:49","date_gmt":"2015-02-25T11:27:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=20582"},"modified":"2024-12-18T07:32:15","modified_gmt":"2024-12-18T13:32:15","slug":"bright-eyed-chukar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/02\/25\/bright-eyed-chukar\/","title":{"rendered":"Bright-eyed Chukar"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Bright-eyedBright-eyed Chukar – Nikon D810, f11, 1\/800, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

This past Sunday was a beautiful day to be on Antelope Island State Park the sky was clear and the sun felt warm. I found a cooperative Chukar on the rocks not too far from the one I photographed recently on a lichen covered tintic quartzite boulder<\/a><\/span> and took some images of it before it hopped down off of the rock. Then it chased after a few nearby Chukars.<\/p>\n

You might be wondering what the blue at the top of the image is. That the Great Salt Lake below the slope and the tan color is mudflats. The water level of the lake is very low and getting lower.<\/p>\n

The Chukars are singing from the rocks in the morning and if I am lucky I might be able to photograph them fighting over the hens<\/a><\/span> again like I did three years ago.<\/p>\n

I remember how tickled I was to photograph Chukars the first time I visited Antelope Island, I certainly didn’t see them in Florida! After living here in Utah for over 5 years I have a large collection of images that I have taken of these striking upland game birds.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

The Chukars are singing from the rocks in the morning and if I am lucky I might be able to photograph them fighting over the hens again like I did three years ago. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":137923,"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":[511,27,442,1022,26],"tags":[4004,4146,445,4773,11978,4005,4273,401,4236,373],"class_list":["post-20582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-chukars","category-davis-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-alectoris-chukar","tag-chukar","tag-chukars","tag-desert-island","tag-great-salt-lake","tag-mudflats","tag-upland-game-birds","tag-walking","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/chukar-walking-mia-mcpherson-5402.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-5lY","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14542,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/03\/10\/chukars-on-antelope-island-state-park\/","url_meta":{"origin":20582,"position":0},"title":"Chukars on Antelope Island State Park","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 10, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"After seeing few Chukars on Antelope Island State Park over the winter it is a delight to see them perching on rocks, preening, calling and warming up in the first rays of sunlight on the island again.","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":"Preening Chukar on a Tintic Quartzite boulder, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/chukar-preening-mia-mcpherson-3682.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/chukar-preening-mia-mcpherson-3682.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Black-billed Magpies last week I noticed a pair of Chukars up close and decided to take portraits of the closest bird.","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":"Springtime Chukar portrait, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/chukar-portrait-mia-mcpherson-9979.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/chukar-portrait-mia-mcpherson-9979.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/chukar-portrait-mia-mcpherson-9979.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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