{"id":3878,"date":"2011-12-19T11:57:58","date_gmt":"2011-12-19T17:57:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=3878"},"modified":"2025-09-17T05:35:04","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T10:35:04","slug":"the-bald-eagles-are-returning-to-the-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/12\/19\/the-bald-eagles-are-returning-to-the-valley\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bald Eagles are Returning to the Valley"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-120583 size-full\" title=\"Four year old Bald Eagle up close\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bald-eagle-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3428.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bald-eagle-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3428.jpg\" alt=\"Four year old Bald Eagle up close, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah\" width=\"900\" height=\"720\" data-id=\"11264\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27720%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20900%20720%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27720%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bald-eagle-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3428-177x142.jpg 177w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bald-eagle-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3428-200x160.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bald-eagle-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3428-250x200.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bald-eagle-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3428-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bald-eagle-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3428-400x320.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bald-eagle-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3428-600x480.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bald-eagle-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3428-768x614.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bald-eagle-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3428-800x640.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bald-eagle-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3428.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Four year old Bald Eagle up close &#8211; Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/640, ISO 200, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n<p>During the summer months I don&#8217;t often see Bald Eagles unless I go up into the high country or travel north of Utah to Idaho, Wyoming or Montana but in the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Salt_Lake_Valley\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Salt Lake Valley<\/span><\/a> many Bald Eagles come in to spend the winter.<\/p>\n<p>By the time autumn arrives I find myself anxiously looking forward to seeing my first eagle of the season and usually the first one I spot is flying high overhead or perched on a craggy rock.<\/p>\n<p>Many of the Bald Eagles that over winter in the Salt Lake Valley have migrated down from the mountains or from much father north of Utah, including Bald Eagles from Alaska.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-156401 size-full\" title=\"Adult Bald Eagle against blue sky, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-4945.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-4945.jpg\" alt=\"Adult Bald Eagle against blue sky, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah\" width=\"656\" height=\"800\" data-id=\"11265\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27656%27%20height%3D%27800%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20656%20800%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27656%27%20height%3D%27800%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-4945-200x244.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-4945-400x488.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-4945-600x732.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-4945.jpg 656w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 656px) 100vw, 656px\" \/>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #888888;\">Adult Bald Eagle in flight\u00a0&#8211;\u00a0 Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/2500, ISO 400, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I have been seeing a spattering of Bald Eagles either in flight or perched in leafless trees lately and before long there will be hundreds more.<\/p>\n<p>I haven&#8217;t heard any calling yet but I suspect that I will be hearing that soon. I am looking forward to seeing and photographing the Bald Eagles that call this valley home during the coldest months. Utah ROCKS for bird photography!<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/bald-eagle-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Bald Eagle photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During the summer months I don&#8217;t often see Bald Eagles unless I go up into the high country or travel north of Utah to Idaho, Wyoming or Montana but in the Salt Lake Valley many Bald Eagles come in to spend the winter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":120583,"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":[151,27,1022,697,322,26],"tags":[4004,846,2663,4142,3903,3133,4052,4122,2161,4152,1127,4104,4046,153,4081,4018],"class_list":["post-3878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bald-eagle","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-portraits","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-bald-eagle","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-close-up","tag-eagle","tag-eagles","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-four-year-old","tag-haliaeetus-leucocephalus","tag-over-wintering","tag-perched","tag-portrait","tag-raptors","tag-salt-lake-valley","tag-sky"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bald-eagle-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3428.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-10y","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4680,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/03\/26\/bald-eagles\/","url_meta":{"origin":3878,"position":0},"title":"Bald Eagles In Northern Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 26, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Normally during the month of February Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area has hundreds of Bald Eagles within its boundaries but that was not the case in February 2012.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bald Eagles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bald Eagles","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/diurnal-raptors\/bald-eagle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Bald Eagle in flight in morning light, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-mia-mcpherson-4990.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-mia-mcpherson-4990.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-mia-mcpherson-4990.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-mia-mcpherson-4990.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1753,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/01\/06\/bald-eagle-second-year\/","url_meta":{"origin":3878,"position":1},"title":"Bald Eagle &#8211; Second Year","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 6, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a second year Bald Eagle, and while the adult birds are probably the most photographed, I enjoy photographing all ages & phases of plumage of bald eagles.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bald Eagles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bald Eagles","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/diurnal-raptors\/bald-eagle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Second year Bald Eagle at Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/bald-eagle-2nd-year-mia-mcpherson-utah-1235.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/bald-eagle-2nd-year-mia-mcpherson-utah-1235.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/bald-eagle-2nd-year-mia-mcpherson-utah-1235.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/bald-eagle-2nd-year-mia-mcpherson-utah-1235.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":43090,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/11\/13\/bald-eagles-are-coming-back-to-overwinter\/","url_meta":{"origin":3878,"position":2},"title":"Bald Eagles Are Coming Back To Overwinter","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 13, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Twice in the past two weeks I have seen Bald Eagles, one four year old bird in flight over the marshes at Farmington Bay WMA and one juvenile perched in a tree up in Box Elder County.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bald Eagles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bald Eagles","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/diurnal-raptors\/bald-eagle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Bald Eagle in flight on a cloudless sky, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-5313.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-5313.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-5313.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-5313.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":149263,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/06\/24\/immature-bald-eagle-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":3878,"position":3},"title":"Immature Bald Eagle at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 24, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I was very happy to spot this immature Bald Eagle resting on a snag with a cottonwood tree in the background at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bald Eagles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bald Eagles","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/diurnal-raptors\/bald-eagle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Regal immature Bald Eagle at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/bald-eagle-immature-cottonwood-mia-mcpherson-0473.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/bald-eagle-immature-cottonwood-mia-mcpherson-0473.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/bald-eagle-immature-cottonwood-mia-mcpherson-0473.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/bald-eagle-immature-cottonwood-mia-mcpherson-0473.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":136909,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/11\/16\/charleston-lake-fog-a-start-to-a-beautiful-morning\/","url_meta":{"origin":3878,"position":4},"title":"Charleston Lake Fog &#8211; A Start To A Beautiful Morning","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, I'm sharing a view and video of Charleston Lake shrouded in fog, with a Bald Eagle perched high in a tree. It was a beautiful start to the morning.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Arkansas&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bald Eagle in a fog on Charleston Lake Park, Franklin County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/bald-eagle-fog-charleston-lake-mia-mcpherson-7242.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/bald-eagle-fog-charleston-lake-mia-mcpherson-7242.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/bald-eagle-fog-charleston-lake-mia-mcpherson-7242.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/bald-eagle-fog-charleston-lake-mia-mcpherson-7242.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15131,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/06\/03\/bald-eagle-lift-off\/","url_meta":{"origin":3878,"position":5},"title":"Bald Eagle lift off","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 3, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"While in southwestern Montana last week I did see several Bald Eagles and this adult was most obliging as it perched on a conifer in the light of the rising sun.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bald Eagles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bald Eagles","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/diurnal-raptors\/bald-eagle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bald Eagle lift off, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/bald-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-1531.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/bald-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-1531.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/bald-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-1531.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/bald-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-1531.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3878"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3878\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}