{"id":43364,"date":"2016-12-06T05:27:13","date_gmt":"2016-12-06T12:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=43364"},"modified":"2024-09-15T04:18:36","modified_gmt":"2024-09-15T09:18:36","slug":"immature-prairie-falcon-at-sunrise-next-to-the-great-salt-lake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/12\/06\/immature-prairie-falcon-at-sunrise-next-to-the-great-salt-lake\/","title":{"rendered":"Immature Prairie Falcon At Sunrise Next To The Great Salt Lake"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PrairieImmature Prairie Falcon at sunrise next to the Great Salt Lake – Nikon D300, f5.6, 1\/1000, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Five years ago today it was a bitter, cold morning and I spent it photographing birds and wildlife on Antelope Island State Park<\/span><\/a>. I remember that the cold wind off of the Great Salt Lake made the skin on my face tingle and that without gloves on my hands they quickly started to feel numb.<\/p>\n

The bird that started my day was an immature Prairie Falcon at sunrise next to the Great Salt Lake and as the sun started to rise the falcon seemed to glow. The boulder that I found the young falcon perched on was still in the shadows when I photographed it which made that glow seem even brighter. How could I resist taking photos of it?<\/p>\n

A few minutes later I was able to photograph the falcon and the boulder it was perched on in brighter light but I liked this photo with the glow of sunrise on the falcon the most from that morning.<\/p>\n

During the winter of 2011 and 2012 I photographed this immature Prairie Falcon quite often along the causeway to Antelope Island. There are times now when I see a Prairie Falcon along the causeway or on the north tip of Antelope Island I wonder if it is the young bird I came to know and appreciate that winter. Since Prairie Falcons can live to be 10 to 20 years old it is quite possible.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

The bird that started my day was an immature Prairie Falcon at sunrise next to the Great Salt Lake and as the sun started to rise the falcon seemed to glow. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":134609,"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":[511,27,1022,1095,26],"tags":[431,970,2663,4278,4078,4279,4620,4005,5381,4067,4378,2617,4190,4193],"class_list":["post-43364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-prairie-falcons","category-utah","tag-antelope-island-causeway","tag-autumn","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-falco-mexicanus","tag-falcon","tag-falcons","tag-fall","tag-great-salt-lake","tag-hatch-year","tag-immature","tag-morning","tag-prairie-falcon","tag-sunrise","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/prairie-falcon-sunrise-mia-mcpherson-4550.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-bhq","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14926,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/05\/10\/a-first-year-prairie-falcon\/","url_meta":{"origin":43364,"position":0},"title":"First year Prairie Falcon","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 10, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"In the fall of 2011 I enjoyed being able to photograph this first year Prairie Falcon several times close to the Great Salt Lake in Utah.","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":"Early morning Prairie Falcon, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/prairie-falcon-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-9910.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/prairie-falcon-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-9910.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/prairie-falcon-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-9910.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6160,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/09\/22\/low-light-juvenile-prairie-falcon\/","url_meta":{"origin":43364,"position":1},"title":"Low Light Juvenile Prairie Falcon","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 22, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"One foggy morning last December I spotted this juvenile Prairie Falcon (Falco mexicanus) perched on a frost-covered rock on the causeway to Antelope Island SP with the Great Salt Lake in the background.","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":"Prairie Falcon on a cold Utah morning next to the causeway, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/prairie-falcon-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-7323.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/prairie-falcon-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-7323.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/prairie-falcon-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-7323.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/prairie-falcon-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-7323.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3705,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/11\/17\/prairie-falcon-eureka-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":43364,"position":2},"title":"Prairie Falcon – Eureka Again!","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 17, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Wow, two nemesis birds photographed in a week, this Prairie Falcon was amazing. I'll be grinning (and dancing) about this for quite awhile!","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":"Young Prairie Falcon getting ready for lift off, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/prairie-falcon-1st-year-mia-mcpherson-9922.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/prairie-falcon-1st-year-mia-mcpherson-9922.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/prairie-falcon-1st-year-mia-mcpherson-9922.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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lifting Northern Shoveler over rocks on the shoreline of the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island State Park in Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/prairie-falcon-prey-mia-mcpherson-8535.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/prairie-falcon-prey-mia-mcpherson-8535.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/prairie-falcon-prey-mia-mcpherson-8535.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/prairie-falcon-prey-mia-mcpherson-8535.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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my regular readers probably know that I have been having a great time the past month photographing Rough-legged Hawks and Prairie Falcons so I selected an image of a Prairie Falcon to post for my Friday Photos today.","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":"Prairie Falcon in early morning light, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/prairie-falcon-mia-mcpherson-5355.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/prairie-falcon-mia-mcpherson-5355.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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