{"id":63710,"date":"2020-02-04T05:30:50","date_gmt":"2020-02-04T12:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=63710"},"modified":"2025-09-17T09:06:00","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T14:06:00","slug":"immature-bald-eagles-up-high-in-the-wasatch-mountains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/02\/04\/immature-bald-eagles-up-high-in-the-wasatch-mountains\/","title":{"rendered":"Immature Bald Eagles Up High In The Wasatch Mountains"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ImmatureImmature Bald Eagle resting on a snag, Wasatch Mountains \u2013 Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/640, ISO 500, +2.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

On the first of February when I found and photographed an unusual and distinctive Bald Eagle with leucism<\/span><\/a> I also photographed two more immature eagles in the same area. Since it was early in the morning it is highly probable that the two sub-adult eagles had spent the night sleeping on the snags I found them resting in.<\/p>\n

Regrettably I was on a dirt road next to fenced private land so I wasn’t able to get any closer to the eagles or take frame filling images of them.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Bald Eagle high in the Wasatch Mountains \u2013 Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/500, ISO 500, +2.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Both of the immature Bald Eagles had their backs facing the the rising sun. I can imagine that after spending the night in frigid temperatures high in the mountains that the warmth of the sun felt nice on their dark feathers.<\/p>\n

The mountains in the background had some snow on them but not nearly as much as I would have expected to see in February.<\/p>\n

Later in the morning I went back to see if these two immature Bald Eagles and the one with leucism were still perched in the snags but they had flown off, perhaps they all went in search of breakfast.<\/p>\n

I saw at least two dozen Bald Eagles while up in the Wasatch Mountains<\/span><\/a> that morning but most of them were too far away to obtain high quality images of them or they were perched where the angle of light was not great.<\/p>\n

Still, I am glad I saw each and every one of the eagles up high in the Wasatch Mountains.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

On the first of February when I found and photographed an unusual and distinctive Bald Eagle with leucism I also photographed two more immature eagles in the same area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":156477,"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":[151,27,1731,26,773],"tags":[846,2663,3940,3903,3133,1124,4152,4067,4069,4104,153,4156,8453,4050,2239,4076,373],"class_list":["post-63710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bald-eagle","category-avian","category-summit-county-utah","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-bald-eagle","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-canyon","tag-eagle","tag-eagles","tag-field","tag-haliaeetus-leucocephalus","tag-immature","tag-mountains","tag-perched","tag-raptors","tag-resting","tag-snag","tag-snow","tag-sub-adult","tag-trees","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/bald-eagle-immature-snag-mia-mcpherson-6168.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-gzA","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":63670,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/02\/02\/second-winter-bald-eagle-with-leucism-on-its-forehead-crown-and-throat\/","url_meta":{"origin":63710,"position":0},"title":"Second Winter Bald Eagle With Leucism On Its Forehead, Crown And Throat","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 2, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I spent some time up in the Wasatch Mountains and I am so glad that I did because I found a second winter Bald Eagle with leucism.","rel":"","context":"In "Bald Eagles"","block_context":{"text":"Bald Eagles","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/diurnal-raptors\/bald-eagle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Leucistic second winter Bald Eagle, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bald-eagle-immature-possible-first-winter-leucistic-mia-mcpherson-6254.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bald-eagle-immature-possible-first-winter-leucistic-mia-mcpherson-6254.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This Bald Eagle photo isn't my best image of this species, and that is alright with me. I took the photo five days ago on the auto tour loop at Bear River MBR.","rel":"","context":"In "Bald Eagles"","block_context":{"text":"Bald Eagles","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/diurnal-raptors\/bald-eagle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Bald Eagle on the road, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bald-eagle-immature-on-the-road-mia-mcpherson-7708.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bald-eagle-immature-on-the-road-mia-mcpherson-7708.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/bald-eagle-immature-on-the-road-mia-mcpherson-7708.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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