{"id":75615,"date":"2020-12-01T05:22:02","date_gmt":"2020-12-01T12:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=75615"},"modified":"2025-10-03T18:21:04","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T23:21:04","slug":"frosty-female-northern-harrier-in-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/12\/01\/frosty-female-northern-harrier-in-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"Frosty Female Northern Harrier In Flight"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FrostyFrosty adult female Northern Harrier in flight \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 1000, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I saw a few harriers on the wing yesterday at Farmington Bay WMA<\/span><\/a> and I was able to take a few photos of a female Northern Harrier that still had frost on her nape.<\/p>\n

Frost can accumulate on the outermost feathers of birds during long winter nights which means it isn’t unusual for me to see frosted owls<\/span><\/a>, hawks<\/span><\/a>, eagles<\/span><\/a> and wading birds<\/span><\/a> first thing in the morning here in northern Utah.<\/p>\n

Especially in the marshes that surround the Great Salt Lake because of the higher humidity in the air. I’ve seen frost on smaller songbirds too but it isn’t quite as noticeable in photos as it can be with the larger birds.<\/p>\n

This adult female Northern Harrier didn’t have as much frost on her as I have seen on other birds at times but the frost on her nape did sparkle in the morning sunlight and that caught my eye.<\/p>\n

This is my first frosted harrier of this winter but she most likely won’t be my last.<\/p>\n

I also found, identified, and pointed out a lifer bird for someone else yesterday morning when I spotted a Common Grackle preening on a Russian Olive tree near Glover Pond.<\/p>\n

I have seen and photographed that species before back east. The Common Grackle yesterday was my first in Utah and while they aren’t rare enough to be reported to the Utah Birds Record Committee, finding one is still great because they are uncommon here in the state.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/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":"

I saw a few harriers on the wing yesterday at Farmington Bay WMA and I was able to take a few photos of a female Northern Harrier that still had frost on her nape.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":159200,"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":[27,1022,697,348,26],"tags":[4004,2663,765,4070,4052,4122,3983,368,2783,3164,4033,4169,2386,4094,767,4006,6384,153,373],"class_list":["post-75615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-northern-harriers","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-circus-hudsonius","tag-female","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-frost","tag-frosty","tag-harrier","tag-harriers","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-marsh","tag-marsh-hawk","tag-northern-harrier","tag-on-the-wing","tag-raptors","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/northern-harrier-female-frosty-flight-mia-mcpherson-6693.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-jFB","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":118614,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/29\/frosty-northern-harrier-in-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":75615,"position":0},"title":"Frosty Northern Harrier In Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 29, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This photo of a frosty Northern Harrier was taken almost five years ago. Although the harrier is small in the frame, I still find the image visually appealing.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Frosty Northern Harrier on the ground, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/northern-harrier-immature-male-on-ground-mia-mcpherson-2196.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/northern-harrier-immature-male-on-ground-mia-mcpherson-2196.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/northern-harrier-immature-male-on-ground-mia-mcpherson-2196.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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McPherson","date":"November 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"It has been too long since I have had a Northern Harrier in my viewfinder although I'm now excited because I know that fall and winter are great seasons for me to find and photograph them.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult female Northern Harrier on the wing, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/northern-harrier-female-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-8570.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/northern-harrier-female-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-8570.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/northern-harrier-immature-female-winter-mia-mcpherson-9180.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/northern-harrier-immature-female-winter-mia-mcpherson-9180.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/northern-harrier-immature-female-winter-mia-mcpherson-9180.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/northern-harrier-immature-female-winter-mia-mcpherson-9180.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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