{"id":4660,"date":"2012-03-20T04:00:52","date_gmt":"2012-03-20T10:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=4660"},"modified":"2025-10-02T19:24:43","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T00:24:43","slug":"northern-harrier-in-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/03\/20\/northern-harrier-in-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"Northern Harrier in flight"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultAdult male Northern Harrier in flight – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/4000, ISO 640, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Just an image I took yesterday of this male Northern Harrier in flight. As simple as the image is I like the great eye contact it has.<\/p>\n

Male Northern Harriers are often called “The Gray Ghost”, \u00a0just by looking at the soft gray plumage I can guess part of the reason why they are nicknamed that.\u00a0 Because I photograph harriers often I can also say that they are very quiet in flight and they seem to sneak up on me often. Maybe that is where the “ghost” part of the nickname comes from.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/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":"

Just an image I took yesterday of this male Northern Harrier in flight. As simple as the image is I like the great eye contact it has.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":158977,"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":[511,1022,348,26],"tags":[4004,2663,765,4052,4122,349,2783,3164,4033,4169,4006,153,4032],"class_list":["post-4660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-davis-county-utah","category-northern-harriers","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-circus-hudsonius","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-gray-ghost","tag-harrier","tag-harriers","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-northern-harrier","tag-raptors","tag-wildlife-photography"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-male-mia-mcpherson-8327.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1da","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1454,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/11\/24\/northern-harrier-gray-ghost\/","url_meta":{"origin":4660,"position":0},"title":"Northern Harrier – Gray Ghost","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 24, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I will have more opportunities with northern harriers in better light this winter and while I wouldn't consider this image perfect, I am happy with the results I obtained while photographing this \"Gray Ghost\".","rel":"","context":"In "Davis County"","block_context":{"text":"Davis County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/davis-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"\u201cGray Ghost\u201d, male Northern Harrier in hovering flight, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/northern-harrier-mia-mcpherson-male-flight-4804.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/northern-harrier-mia-mcpherson-male-flight-4804.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/northern-harrier-mia-mcpherson-male-flight-4804.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/northern-harrier-mia-mcpherson-male-flight-4804.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8239,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/04\/29\/northern-harriers-in-flight\/","url_meta":{"origin":4660,"position":1},"title":"Northern Harriers In Flight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 29, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Northern Harriers fascinate me partly because they are sexually dimorphic; meaning that the males and females look different even though they are the same species, and also because of their owl-like facial discs.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Northern Harrier flying near the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/northern-harrier-flying-mia-mcpherson-9971.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/northern-harrier-flying-mia-mcpherson-9971.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/northern-harrier-flying-mia-mcpherson-9971.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/northern-harrier-flying-mia-mcpherson-9971.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20564,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/02\/24\/a-gray-ghost-on-a-gray-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":4660,"position":2},"title":"Gray Ghost On A Gray Day","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 24, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Three years ago on a very gray morning I photographed this male Northern Harrier; the Gray Ghost, in flight along the causeway to 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":"Gray Ghost, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-male-flight-mia-mcpherson-0179.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-male-flight-mia-mcpherson-0179.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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flight in a hazy sky, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/northern-harrier-adult-male-flight-mia-mcpherson-0507.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/northern-harrier-adult-male-flight-mia-mcpherson-0507.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/northern-harrier-adult-male-flight-mia-mcpherson-0507.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/northern-harrier-adult-male-flight-mia-mcpherson-0507.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6782,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/12\/13\/female-northern-harrier-in-flight\/","url_meta":{"origin":4660,"position":4},"title":"Female Northern Harrier in flight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Typically I see far more Northern Harriers in the winter here in Utah than I do during the breeding season which might be partly due to the harriers preferring to nest within marshy wetland areas which are in abundance around the Great Salt Lake.","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":"Female Northern Harrier in flight over the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, 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