{"id":34466,"date":"2015-12-25T05:48:12","date_gmt":"2015-12-25T12:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=34466"},"modified":"2026-04-02T15:44:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T20:44:48","slug":"a-bald-eagle-in-flight-with-prey-in-its-talons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/12\/25\/a-bald-eagle-in-flight-with-prey-in-its-talons\/","title":{"rendered":"Bald Eagle In Flight With Prey In Its Talons"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BaldBald Eagle in flight with prey – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/6400, ISO 1600, +0.3, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The light wasn’t the best yesterday early on Antelope Island State Park<\/span><\/a> because of clouds but I am glad I was out there yesterday because it was a treat to see the island covered in snow on Christmas Eve morning. I didn’t take many bird images but some times it is about being there and not so much about the photos.<\/p>\n

I did spot a Bald Eagle landing on one of the poles at the docks of the marina so I set my exposure and locked onto the eagle while it was on the pole and then I could see that there was prey beneath it. I was quite a distance away from the bird and facing north towards the snow covered Promontory Mountains and Fremont Island. The mountains looked blue because they were shaded by the dark clouds that hung over them.<\/p>\n

When the Bald Eagle lifted off I could see the prey in its talons but it wasn’t until I viewed the image on my screen at home that I could tell that the prey was most likely an Eared Grebe because of the lobed feet and the shape of its head.<\/p>\n

I like this image even though the Bald Eagle is small in the frame for several reasons, I like that I caught the prey dangling in the eagle’s talons, that I can see part of the island in the lower part of the frame then behind that the Great Salt Lake and the distant snow covered mountains.<\/p>\n

\"SnowSnow covered Antelope Island on Christmas Eve – Nikon D300, f11, 1\/200, ISO 320, +1.7 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 18 mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I also wanted to take some snowy scenery images for my family back east because this year they don’t have snow for Christmas day due to the record high temperatures they have been experiencing while I have been blessed with snow on the ground and it is still falling this morning as I write this post.\u00a0 I wanted to share some of my snow with them today.<\/p>\n

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

When the Bald Eagle lifted off I could see the prey in its talons but it wasn’t until I viewed the image on my screen at home that I could tell that the prey was most likely an Eared Grebe because of the lobed feet. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":156447,"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":[511,151,27,1022,377,26],"tags":[4004,846,2663,3903,3133,4385,4052,4122,4005,877,707,4152,4271,4106,153],"class_list":["post-34466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-bald-eagle","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-eared-grebes","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-bald-eagle","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-eagle","tag-eagles","tag-eared-grebe","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-great-salt-lake","tag-grebe","tag-grebes-2","tag-haliaeetus-leucocephalus","tag-podiceps-nigricollis","tag-prey","tag-raptors"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-eared-grebe-mia-mcpherson-0094.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-8XU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":26716,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/07\/15\/bald-eagle-on-ice\/","url_meta":{"origin":34466,"position":0},"title":"Bald 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Years","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 25, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I wanted to share some of the Christmas Day bird photos I have taken through the years out in the field and close to home.","rel":"","context":"In "Bald Eagles"","block_context":{"text":"Bald Eagles","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/diurnal-raptors\/bald-eagle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Christmas Day snow storm and a Red-tailed Hawk, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-snow-storm-mia-mcpherson-7454.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-tailed-hawk-snow-storm-mia-mcpherson-7454.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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