{"id":79055,"date":"2021-02-09T06:08:42","date_gmt":"2021-02-09T13:08:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=79055"},"modified":"2026-02-14T12:01:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T18:01:24","slug":"golden-eagle-flying-over-a-hill-on-antelope-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/02\/09\/golden-eagle-flying-over-a-hill-on-antelope-island\/","title":{"rendered":"Golden Eagle Flying Over A Hill On Antelope Island"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GoldenGolden Eagle flying over a hill on Antelope Island \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 640, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

It has been a couple of years since I have found a Golden Eagle on Antelope Island<\/span><\/a> so when I spotted an adult on a grassy hill yesterday I was excited. What drew my eyes to the eagle was a pair of Common Ravens that were harassing it. The ravens flew towards the west leaving the eagle perched alone on top of the hill.<\/p>\n

I wish the Golden Eagle had been a little bit closer to the road but when the large, dark eagle with the golden nape lifted off from the grassy slope I didn’t need to worry about clipping its wings. I took a nice series of the eagle in flight then a few more images as it turned and landed back on top of the hill.<\/p>\n

Golden Eagles prey on small to medium sized mammals which include jackrabbits and cottontails. Over the years I have seen fewer rabbits at the park and I suspect that may be part of the reason I have seen fewer of these eagles on my trips to the island. The Golden Eagles will move to new hunting grounds if they don’t find sufficient prey.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Bison portrait in front of the Great Salt Lake \u2013 Nikon D500, f9, 1\/1250, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I also saw several herds of American Bison on the island yesterday. One herd had a few calves, one herd was primarily bulls of varying ages, and some were way out in the distance in grassy slopes. I photographed bison in two of the herds and was very pleased with this portrait of an American Bison with the Great Salt Lake in the background.<\/p>\n

I feel that I should note that the Great Salt Lake is drying up and has been for several years. If I had taken this image during the first couple of years I lived in Utah the background in this image would have been all water. Instead the layers in the background of this photo shows water and the exposed lake bottom because the lake level is so low. With our drought, lack of normal snowpack in the mountains this winter, and wasteful water consumption upstream in the rivers that feed this terminal lake the water levels will only drop lower this summer.<\/p>\n

It was a beautiful, sunny morning on the island yesterday. I was delighted to have spotted the Golden Eagle and to have had the American Bison in my viewfinder too.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

To view more of my Golden Eagle photos plus facts and information about this species click here<\/span><\/a>. To see more of my American Bison photos plus information about the bison click here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It has been a couple of years since I have found a Golden Eagle on Antelope Island so when I spotted an adult on a grassy hill yesterday I was excited.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":118179,"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":[443,511,27,1022,1200,26],"tags":[4004,4463,4345,2663,4663,745,4350,4314,4142,4101,3903,3133,4052,4122,1201,3747,4109,4005,5777,5178,4062,4046,153,4018,3996,373],"class_list":["post-79055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bison","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-golden-eagles","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-american-bison","tag-aquila-chrysaetos","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-bison","tag-bison-bison","tag-buffalo","tag-bull","tag-close-up","tag-clouds","tag-eagle","tag-eagles","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-golden-eagle","tag-grass","tag-grasses","tag-great-salt-lake","tag-hill","tag-lake","tag-male","tag-portrait","tag-raptors","tag-sky","tag-water","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/golden-eagle-flight-hill-antelope-island-mia-mcpherson-2040.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-kz5","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":50807,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/01\/31\/golden-eagle-soaring-over-the-great-salt-lake\/","url_meta":{"origin":79055,"position":0},"title":"Golden Eagle soaring over the Great Salt Lake","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 31, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Three years ago today I found and photographed a Golden Eagle that was soaring along the east side of Antelope Island over 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":"Golden Eagle soaring over the Great Salt Lake close to Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-8603.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-8603.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning found me on Antelope Island in low light and falling snow with a pair of Golden Eagles wishing for better light and clear skies.","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":"Golden Eagle in falling snow, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/golden-eagle-snow-mia-mcpherson-8632.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/golden-eagle-snow-mia-mcpherson-8632.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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McPherson","date":"November 1, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, in celebration of National Bison Day 2025, I thought I\u2019d share two photos of these amazing and powerful mammals, which we almost lost to extinction.","rel":"","context":"In "American Bison"","block_context":{"text":"American Bison","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/bison\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Bison bull and the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-bison-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-0685.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/american-bison-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-0685.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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