{"id":59209,"date":"2019-07-27T05:15:55","date_gmt":"2019-07-27T11:15:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=59209"},"modified":"2026-03-18T09:21:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T14:21:49","slug":"celebrate-the-spiders-of-antelope-island-spider-fest-on-august-3-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/07\/27\/celebrate-the-spiders-of-antelope-island-spider-fest-on-august-3-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrate The Spiders Of Antelope Island – Spider Fest On August 3, 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FemaleFemale Western Spotted Orbweaver spider with her prey – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/640, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Mark your calendars because there is a yearly Spider Festival on Antelope Island State Park<\/span><\/a> and this year the festival is being held next Saturday on August 3, 2019.<\/p>\n

Activities start at 10am and go until 4pm. No registration required. Park entrance fees apply.<\/p>\n

2019 Schedule of Events<\/p>\n

Presentations in the Visitor Center
\n10:15 \u2013 10:45 Spider Myths and Facts
\n11:15 \u2013 11:45 Silky Seduction: Spider Reproduction
\n12:15-12:45 How Spiders Benefit Birds
\n1:15 \u2013 1:45 TBA
\n2:00 \u2013 2:30 Bio Blitz Review – What did we find?
\n3:00 \u2013 3:30 Utah Tarantulas<\/p>\n

Activities in the Outdoor Amphitheater
\n10:00 \u2013 10:30 Spider Drumming
\n10:30 \u2013 10:45 Spider Poetry Reading
\n10:45 \u2013 11:15 Spider Drumming
\n11:15 \u2013 11:30 Costume Contest Parade
\n11:30 \u2013 12:00 Spider Drumming
\n12:00 \u2013 12:15 Costume Contest Awards
\n12:30 \u2013 12:45 Spider Poetry Reading
\n1:30 \u2013 1:45 Spider Poetry Reading
\nMore TBA<\/p>\n

Guided Walks
\nTake place on the hour and the quarter hour from 10:00am – 3:15pm
\nSpanish Translation by request for any walk<\/p>\n

Check the Antelope Island State Park Facebook page<\/span><\/a> for updates.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Western Spotted Orbweaver spider hanging in his web – Nikon D500, f10, 1\/640, ISO 500, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This time of the year spiders and their webs drape the sagebrush, rabbitbrush, fences, trees and practically everything that doesn’t move on the island. I know that creeps some people out but they don’t bother me. The spiders are a fascinating part of the food web on Antelope Island and without them there would be fewer birds.<\/p>\n

I love to take the time to photograph the spiders found on the island and the most common spiders that I see there are the Western Spotted Orbweaver spiders. I photograph the spiders with a long lens and a DSLR but quality photos of the spiders can be taken with cell phones and point and shoot cameras.<\/p>\n

\"MuleMule Deer doe with a spider on her face – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Okay, so you might see the spiders of Antelope Island on living, breathing, moving creatures like this Mule Deer doe who had been resting in some vegetation and when she stood up she collected a spider and its web on her face. How cool is a hitchhiking spider though?<\/p>\n

You don’t have to go to the festival to enjoy the spiders on Antelope Island though, you can head out there now and find thousands of them.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Western Spotted Orbweaver photos and here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my insect and spider galleries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mark your calendars because there is a yearly Spider Festival on Antelope Island State Park and this year the festival is being held next Saturday on August 3, 2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":172392,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,1022,317,26,1174],"tags":[7487,7482,7484,4022,2378,4180,4106,3901,7486,7485,2381,5986,7483,4293],"class_list":["post-59209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-davis-county-utah","category-mule-deer","category-utah","category-western-spotted-orbweaver","tag-activities","tag-face","tag-festival","tag-mule-deer","tag-neoscona-oaxacensis","tag-odocoileus-hemionus","tag-prey","tag-spider","tag-spider-festival","tag-spiderfest","tag-spiders","tag-web","tag-webs","tag-western-spotted-orbweaver"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/western-spotted-orbweaver-prey-mia-mcpherson-6014.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-foZ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":92025,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/07\/11\/antelope-island-spider-fest-2021\/","url_meta":{"origin":59209,"position":0},"title":"Antelope Island Spider Fest 2021","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 11, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The Antelope Island Spider Fest starts on August 2, 2021 and continues through August 7, 2021 this year.","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 Western Spotted Orbweaver in her web next to the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/western-spotted-orbweaver-and-web-mia-mcpherson-8398.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/western-spotted-orbweaver-and-web-mia-mcpherson-8398.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/western-spotted-orbweaver-mia-mcpherson-4651.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/western-spotted-orbweaver-mia-mcpherson-4651.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/western-spotted-orbweaver-mia-mcpherson-4651.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/western-spotted-orbweaver-mia-mcpherson-4651.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":47751,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/07\/20\/mule-deer-doe-with-a-western-spotted-orbweaver-webs-on-her-face\/","url_meta":{"origin":59209,"position":3},"title":"Mule Deer Doe with a Western Spotted Orbweaver & Webs on Her Face","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 20, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I can't resist photographing birds or wildlife up close so I swung my lens around and focused on the face of the Mule Deer and laughed out loud because she was covered in spiderwebs.","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":"Mule Deer doe with spiderwebs and a spider on her face, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/mule-deer-spider-webs-mia-mcpherson-5904.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/mule-deer-spider-webs-mia-mcpherson-5904.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10036,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/10\/31\/creepy-crawly-spiders-for-halloween\/","url_meta":{"origin":59209,"position":5},"title":"Creepy Crawly Spiders for Halloween","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 31, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"First, I want to admit something. 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They do crawl at times but I think they are beautiful creatures.","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":"Mabel Orchard Orbweaver and web, Sawgrass Lake Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Mabel-Orchard-Orbweaver-mia-mcpherson-1370.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Mabel-Orchard-Orbweaver-mia-mcpherson-1370.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Mabel-Orchard-Orbweaver-mia-mcpherson-1370.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Mabel-Orchard-Orbweaver-mia-mcpherson-1370.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\/59209","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=59209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59209\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}