{"id":34779,"date":"2016-01-12T05:12:25","date_gmt":"2016-01-12T12:12:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=34779"},"modified":"2025-10-03T10:50:05","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T15:50:05","slug":"a-frost-covered-juvenile-northern-harrier-at-farmington-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/01\/12\/a-frost-covered-juvenile-northern-harrier-at-farmington-bay\/","title":{"rendered":"Frost Covered Juvenile Northern Harrier at Farmington Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FrostFrost covered juvenile Northern Harrier – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/200, ISO 500, -1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

In recent posts I have mentioned that winter here in northern Utah can be harsh on Barn Owls<\/span><\/a> but it can be just as rough on the other birds that live here too.<\/p>\n

It isn’t unusual to see birds like this frost covered juvenile Northern Harrier at Farmington Bay WMA<\/span><\/a>, Utah early in the morning before the sun rises and warms them up enough to melt the frost on their feathers.<\/p>\n

This juvenile male harrier was perched on a fence post when the temperature was 11\u00b0F (-11\u00b0C) so I am not surprised about the frost on its back because the frost can cover every thing in sight when the temperature dips that low around the marshes and the air is full of moisture.<\/p>\n

Hopefully this juvenile will make it through the winter by feeding on the voles it can find in the snow or on the flesh of the other marsh birds that succumb to the cold of the winter.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Frost covered Barn Owl<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Frost covered Bald Eagle<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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

It isn’t unusual to see birds like this frost covered juvenile Northern Harrier at Farmington Bay WMA, Utah early in the morning before the sun rises and warms them up. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":159092,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,1022,697,348,26],"tags":[2663,765,898,3983,4875,368,2783,3164,8248,4033,4169,4067,4071,4094,610,4006,4104,4394,153,4050,373],"class_list":["post-34779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-northern-harriers","category-utah","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-circus-hudsonius","tag-fence-post","tag-frost","tag-frost-covered","tag-frosty","tag-harrier","tag-harriers","tag-harsh","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-marsh","tag-marshes","tag-northern-harrier","tag-perched","tag-post","tag-raptors","tag-snow","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-3432.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-92X","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":75615,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/12\/01\/frosty-female-northern-harrier-in-flight\/","url_meta":{"origin":34779,"position":0},"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 "Birds"","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, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-flight-mia-mcpherson-8745.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-8745.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-8745.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":33188,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/11\/23\/a-juvenile-northern-harrier-perched-on-a-post\/","url_meta":{"origin":34779,"position":3},"title":"Juvenile Northern Harrier perched on a post","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this juvenile Northern Harrier as it perched on a post near Goose Egg Island at Farmington Bay.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Perched Harrier, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/northern-harrier-winter-mia-mcpherson-4187.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-winter-mia-mcpherson-4187.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/northern-harrier-winter-mia-mcpherson-4187.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/northern-harrier-winter-mia-mcpherson-4187.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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