{"id":79136,"date":"2021-02-11T06:16:32","date_gmt":"2021-02-11T13:16:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=79136"},"modified":"2025-12-06T14:03:16","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T20:03:16","slug":"chukar-and-snow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/02\/11\/chukar-and-snow\/","title":{"rendered":"Chukar And Snow"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultAdult Chukar perched on a mound of snow \u2013 Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/2500, ISO 400, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR at 328mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Eight years ago today I was out in the field photographing a Chukar and snow on Antelope Island State Park<\/span><\/a>. It was sunny and very chilly that morning and a small covey of Chukars were foraging for seeds next to the plowed road.<\/p>\n

This adult Chukar seemed to be a sentinel bird which means if it had spotted danger it would have let the rest of the Chukars know so they could seek shelter from whatever the danger was.<\/p>\n

These two images were taken when I used to see Chukars and<\/em> snow regularly on the island during the month of February. That has changed in just eight years.<\/p>\n

\"ChukarChukar walking in deep snow \u2013 Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/2000, ISO 400, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I used to see Chukars on almost every trip out to Antelope Island. Now I might see them one time in twenty or more trips out there. I also used to see more snow on the island during the winter than I have been seeing the past several years.<\/p>\n

I have been to the island twice this month and haven’t heard a single Chukar calling. They should be calling.<\/p>\n

The north end of the island is undergoing some drastic and speaking only<\/em> for myself unwelcome changes because of the construction of a new campground not far from the old Bridger Bay campsites. The noise and physical disturbances caused by the heavy machinery has impacted the birds and wildlife on that end of the island.<\/p>\n

More on that subject on a different day.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Eight years ago today I was out in the field photographing a Chukar and snow on Antelope Island State Park.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":165418,"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":[511,27,442,1022,26],"tags":[4004,4146,10622,445,4773,10765,686,4104,4050,401,4236,373],"class_list":["post-79136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-chukars","category-davis-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-alectoris-chukar","tag-changes","tag-chukar","tag-chukars","tag-deep","tag-introduced","tag-perched","tag-snow","tag-upland-game-birds","tag-walking","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/chukar-adult-snow-mia-mcpherson-6742.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-kAo","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9407,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/09\/07\/chukar-in-a-field-of-white\/","url_meta":{"origin":79136,"position":0},"title":"Chukar In A Field Of White","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this Chukar in a field of white undisturbed snow last January, as I recall it was bitter cold that morning but the bright sun seemed to warm the Chukar as much as it warmed my hands.","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":"Chukar in fresh snow on Antelope Island State Park, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/chukar-snow-mia-mcpherson-5658.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/chukar-snow-mia-mcpherson-5658.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/chukar-snow-mia-mcpherson-5658.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/chukar-snow-mia-mcpherson-5658.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":98032,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/12\/08\/close-up-chukar-on-fresh-snow\/","url_meta":{"origin":79136,"position":1},"title":"Close Up Chukar On Fresh Snow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 8, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I came across this photo of an adult Chukar standing in top of fresh snow the other day and felt a pang of sadness.","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":"Adult Chukar standing on top of snow, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/chukar-on-a-bright-winter-day-mia-mcpherson-5629.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/chukar-on-a-bright-winter-day-mia-mcpherson-5629.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/chukar-on-a-bright-winter-day-mia-mcpherson-5629.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/chukar-on-a-bright-winter-day-mia-mcpherson-5629.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":50406,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/12\/30\/calling-chukar-in-snow-on-antelope-island\/","url_meta":{"origin":79136,"position":2},"title":"Calling Chukar in Snow on Antelope Island","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I always feel fortunate when I am able to photograph Chukars in the snow on the island because it helps to make them more visible than they are during other seasons of the 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":"Chukar calling on snow-covered Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/chukar-calling-snow-mia-mcpherson-6631.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/chukar-calling-snow-mia-mcpherson-6631.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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McPherson","date":"January 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The weather forecast for today isn't as bright as it was on the day last January when I photographed this Chukar walking across a field of fresh snow instead the forecast for today is rather dreary.","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":"Chukar on a bright winter day walking across a field of snow on Antelope Island State Park, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/chukar-snowy-day-mia-mcpherson-5260.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/chukar-snowy-day-mia-mcpherson-5260.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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I spotted this Chukar on top of a mound of snow that the plow had pushed to the side of the road on 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":"High key Chukar on Antelope Island State Park in northern Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/chukar-snow-walking-mia-mcpherson-6451.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/chukar-snow-walking-mia-mcpherson-6451.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/chukar-snow-walking-mia-mcpherson-6451.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/chukar-snow-walking-mia-mcpherson-6451.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\/79136","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=79136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}