{"id":3851,"date":"2011-12-17T18:14:08","date_gmt":"2011-12-18T01:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=3851"},"modified":"2026-02-18T10:26:48","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T16:26:48","slug":"coyotes-birds-cruddy-weather-and-camaraderie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/12\/17\/coyotes-birds-cruddy-weather-and-camaraderie\/","title":{"rendered":"Coyotes, Birds, Cruddy Weather and Camaraderie"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CoyoteCoyote in a frosty field ~ Antelope Island State Park, Utah – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/2000, ISO 800, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 200mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Today I had the pleasure of photographing with not just one but two friends and fellow photographers. To be sure they are much more “fellow” than I am but I don’t hold that against them.<\/p>\n

The weather<\/strong>: Pea soup fog, started off the day at 17 degrees and we had an icy looking sun that never quite burned off the fog while we were shooting.<\/p>\n

The weather forecast for the day<\/strong>: Clear and sunny<\/em>. I’m sure it was sunny and clear… at about 5000 feet above the fog. Weather forecasters, I dearly wish I could be paid to be wrong so often.<\/p>\n

Destination<\/strong>: Antelope Island State Park<\/span><\/a> and Farmington Bay Wildlife Management Area.<\/p>\n

Chuck Gangas, a good friend and fellow bird photographer from Massachusetts had a layover in Salt Lake for the full day and since he’d never photographed birds here in this area of Utah we all went out hoping the fog would lift and we’d find birds. Well, we did at least find the birds.<\/p>\n

Despite the poor weather Chuck was able to see and photograph 3 lifer birds, Rough-legged Hawks, Western Meadowlarks, and White-faced Ibises. The ibis are very late this winter migrating to the south, maybe they waited just so Chuck could see and photograph them. Maybe the Chukars we saw were lifer birds for him too, I forgot to ask him.<\/p>\n

Note<\/strong>: The Chukars were lifers for Chuck and the Loggerhead Shrikes were too. Five lifers in one day isn’t too shabby at all!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was wonderful for me to “see” the island (even with cruddy visibility) through Chuck’s eyes. I first saw the island 3 years ago and I fell instantly in love with the windswept grassy plains, the craggy rocks, the tremendous views of the Great Salt Lake, and the feeling of wildness that embodied the entire island.<\/p>\n

I think Chuck felt some of that today. Antelope Island is a place that gets into your blood.<\/p>\n

It was amazing to hear the excitement in Chuck’s voice and to hear him speak praises about the island I love so much.<\/p>\n

By the way, we saw 9 Coyotes on the island today, that was awesome too.<\/p>\n

A super day despite the fog.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Today I had the pleasure of photographing with not just one but two wonderful friends and fellow photographers. To be sure they are much more “fellow” than I am but I don’t hold that against them. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":169504,"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":[511,100,26],"tags":[58,1125,733,4002,3347,3981,11978,1124,4175,1126,3983,4035,30],"class_list":["post-3851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-coyotes","category-utah","tag-antelope-island-sp","tag-camaraderie","tag-canis-latrans","tag-coyote","tag-coyotes","tag-davis-county","tag-desert-island","tag-field","tag-fog","tag-friends-2","tag-frost","tag-nature-photography","tag-utah-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-frosty-mia-mcpherson-9137.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-107","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14457,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/02\/27\/coyotes-on-the-antelope-island-state-park-causeway\/","url_meta":{"origin":3851,"position":0},"title":"Coyotes on the Antelope Island State Park Causeway","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 27, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Starting the day photographing Coyotes always makes me want to howl with delight. They are amazing adaptable creatures who help to keep nature in balance.","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":"Coyote running in a fog along the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-running-fog-mia-mcpherson-1314.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-running-fog-mia-mcpherson-1314.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-running-fog-mia-mcpherson-1314.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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\"mostly sunny\" and once again the weather forecasters were wrong, at least for the period of time I was out photographing on Antelope Island State Park.","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":"Coyote deep in the snow, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-snow-marsh-mia-mcpherson-6835.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-snow-marsh-mia-mcpherson-6835.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-snow-marsh-mia-mcpherson-6835.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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