{"id":20967,"date":"2015-03-17T06:38:51","date_gmt":"2015-03-17T12:38:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=20967"},"modified":"2025-10-03T09:19:46","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T14:19:46","slug":"a-female-northern-harrier-in-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/03\/17\/a-female-northern-harrier-in-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"Female Northern Harrier In Flight"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-159059 size-full\" title=\"A female Northern Harrier in flight, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-flight-mia-mcpherson-6320.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-flight-mia-mcpherson-6320.jpg\" alt=\"A female Northern Harrier in flight, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah\" width=\"850\" height=\"607\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20607%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-flight-mia-mcpherson-6320-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-flight-mia-mcpherson-6320-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-flight-mia-mcpherson-6320-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-flight-mia-mcpherson-6320-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-flight-mia-mcpherson-6320-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-flight-mia-mcpherson-6320.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">A female Northern Harrier in flight &#8211; Nikon D810, f6.3, 1\/2500, ISO 400, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural\u00a0 light, not baited<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I know that everyone&#8217;s life gets crazy at times.<\/p>\n<p>We run into bumps, hit walls, get thrown curve balls, stuff hits a fan, or rolls down hill.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve been there, done that, and would appreciate it tremendously if that fabled silver lining in the clouds showed itself a bit more.<\/p>\n<p>Over a period of several months I have battled idiots trying to bring down my server (under control now) and put up with a forced Windows update that messed with my old computer which caused me to want to yank out my hair.<\/p>\n<p>And that says a lot because those close to me know I spent nearly two years nearly lockless because of an illness.<\/p>\n<p>But&#8230; 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.<\/p>\n<p>It is just a simple image, one subject against a pale blue sky. Given life&#8217;s complexities sometimes simple is just what I need.<\/p>\n<p>And maybe now I will get caught up with culling and more importantly answering emails where my replies are long overdue.<\/p>\n<p>Happy St. Patrick&#8217;s Day.<\/p>\n<p>Life<em> is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/northern-harrier-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Northern Harrier photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>But&#8230; 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":159059,"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":[4004,2663,765,4070,4052,4122,2783,3164,4033,4169,2386,4359,4006,153,4018,373],"class_list":["post-20967","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-birds-of-prey","tag-circus-hudsonius","tag-female","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-harrier","tag-harriers","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-hen","tag-northern-harrier","tag-raptors","tag-sky","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-flight-mia-mcpherson-6320.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-5sb","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":35085,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/01\/23\/northern-harrier-in-flight-over-farmington-bay\/","url_meta":{"origin":20967,"position":0},"title":"Northern Harrier in Flight over Farmington Bay","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 23, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I spent a little bit of time yesterday morning photographing a few birds including this Northern Harrier in flight over Farmington Bay WMA.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Photo of a female Northern Harrier in flight over open water at Farmington Bay WMA in northern Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-flight-mia-mcpherson-6885.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-6885.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-6885.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-6885.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":75615,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/12\/01\/frosty-female-northern-harrier-in-flight\/","url_meta":{"origin":20967,"position":1},"title":"Frosty Female Northern Harrier In Flight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 1, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I saw a few harriers on the wing yesterday at Farmington Bay WMA and I was able to take a few photos of a female Northern Harrier that still had frost on her nape.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Frosty adult female Northern Harrier in flight, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-female-frosty-flight-mia-mcpherson-6693.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-female-frosty-flight-mia-mcpherson-6693.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-female-frosty-flight-mia-mcpherson-6693.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-female-frosty-flight-mia-mcpherson-6693.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":76758,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/12\/29\/young-female-northern-harrier-in-flight\/","url_meta":{"origin":20967,"position":2},"title":"Young Female Northern Harrier In Flight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 29, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I was able to photograph this young Northern Harrier flying over a marsh on a trip up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","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":"Young Northern Harrier flying over a marsh, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/northern-harrier-immature-female-flight-mia-mcpherson-2210.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/northern-harrier-immature-female-flight-mia-mcpherson-2210.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/northern-harrier-immature-female-flight-mia-mcpherson-2210.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/northern-harrier-immature-female-flight-mia-mcpherson-2210.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":20967,"position":3},"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 &quot;Antelope Island State Park&quot;","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":11860,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/12\/14\/a-juvenile-female-northern-harrier-the-eyes-have-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":20967,"position":4},"title":"Juvenile Female Northern Harrier &#8211; The Eyes Have It","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Eye color can be used to sex juvenile Northern Harriers, brown for juvenile females and yellowish for the males and this harrier is a definite brown-eyed beauty.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female juvenile Northern Harrier in flight over the marsh at Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-female-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-9087.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-female-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-9087.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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&quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult female Northern Harrier on the wing, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/northern-harrier-female-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-8570.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/northern-harrier-female-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-8570.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/northern-harrier-female-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-8570.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/northern-harrier-female-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-8570.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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