{"id":8387,"date":"2013-05-18T06:49:04","date_gmt":"2013-05-18T12:49:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=8387"},"modified":"2025-05-26T07:31:39","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T12:31:39","slug":"ospreys-of-flaming-gorge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/05\/18\/ospreys-of-flaming-gorge\/","title":{"rendered":"Ospreys of Flaming Gorge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MaleMale Osprey in flight – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/640, ISO 800, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

My trip to Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area<\/a><\/span> in northeastern Utah was great despite my having been ill the last night I was there. I camped in two different locations this time and both had grand views of the Flaming Gorge Reservoir.<\/p>\n

Last year at about this same time these Ospreys were busy building their nest while this year they were already sitting on eggs.\u00a0 The male pictured above was flying past the nest with part of a fish in its talons. I sat for nearly an hour watching the male eat this fish on a distant power pole before he flew past. Have I ever mentioned that one needs tons of patience to be a bird photographer<\/span><\/a>?<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Osprey in golden light\u00a0– Nikon D300, f5.6, 1\/1000, ISO 800,\u00a0Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 357mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The light in the morning can be gorgeous at Flaming Gorge, it was when I photographed the female regaining her balance on top of a power pole near the nest. I didn’t see much of this golden light though this trip. The Uinta Mountains can create their own weather and they certainly did the days I was there with clouds building up in the afternoons, some rain and thunderstorms too.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Osprey in low light\u00a0– Nikon D300, f5.6, 1\/160, ISO 1250, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

The last morning the light was low with clouds that were blocking the sun and spitting some rain down on me. I bumped my ISO up to 1250 and hoped to get a few usable images of the Osprey before I left. Even at ISO 1250 I wasn’t getting the shutter speed I would have liked and all the flight images I took had plenty of motion blur. I think I was quite lucky to get the female’s face in focus as she came in for a landing in this frame.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe beauty of Flaming Gorge\u00a0– Nikon D300, f8, 1\/500, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 95mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Who couldn’t love this view? I know each time I see it I am in awe of the beauty of the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, and this view is just a tiny part of the stunning vistas seen in the area.<\/p>\n

I’ll be posting more Osprey images from this journey later along with scenery from other parts of the Recreation Area and Ashley National Forest.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Last year at about this same time these Ospreys were busy building their nest while this year they were already sitting on eggs at Flaming Gorge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":147438,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,981,150,466,26],"tags":[4004,4070,11318,4052,4122,4254,11320,4123,156,4062,519,4450,3992,6784,4104,9356,11319,3996],"class_list":["post-8387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-flaming-gorge-national-recreation-area","category-diurnal-raptors","category-ospreys","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-female","tag-fish-hawks","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-golden-light","tag-gorge","tag-landing","tag-low-light-2","tag-male","tag-nature","tag-nesting-season","tag-osprey","tag-ospreys","tag-perched","tag-reservoir","tag-sea-hawks","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/flaming-gorge-reservoir-mia-mcpherson-4880.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-2bh","jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14633,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/03\/27\/my-love-of-ospreys\/","url_meta":{"origin":8387,"position":0},"title":"My Love of Ospreys","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 27, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Three days ago a first of the year sighting from the UBIRD group got me all excited because it means that the Ospreys have returned to Utah!","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Osprey in flight with prey at Flaming Gorge Reservoir, Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, Daggett County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/osprey-fish-flight-mia-mcpherson-6020.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/osprey-fish-flight-mia-mcpherson-6020.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/osprey-fish-flight-mia-mcpherson-6020.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/osprey-fish-flight-mia-mcpherson-6020.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":83073,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/04\/01\/utahs-ospreys-are-back-for-their-nesting-season\/","url_meta":{"origin":8387,"position":1},"title":"Utah’s Ospreys Are Back For Their Nesting Season","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I was hoping to find my first of the year Swainson's Hawks yesterday but instead I spotted my first of year Ospreys.\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female and male Ospreys on their nest, Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, Daggett County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ospreys-on-the-nest-flaming-gorge-mia-mcpherson-4843.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ospreys-on-the-nest-flaming-gorge-mia-mcpherson-4843.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ospreys-on-the-nest-flaming-gorge-mia-mcpherson-4843.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/ospreys-on-the-nest-flaming-gorge-mia-mcpherson-4843.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5112,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/06\/01\/female-ospreys-have-flare\/","url_meta":{"origin":8387,"position":2},"title":"Female Ospreys Have Flare!","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 1, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Okay. At least this female Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) is landing with flared wings and tail!","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Flat"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Flat","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-flat\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Osprey landing on nest, Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, Daggett County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/osprey-female-landing-mia-mcpherson-4924.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/osprey-female-landing-mia-mcpherson-4924.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/osprey-female-landing-mia-mcpherson-4924.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2012","format":false,"excerpt":"In May of this year I camped at Antelope Flat in the Flaming Gorge National recreation Area and near the boat ramp there was an Osprey nest.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Osprey \u2013 Black-billed Magpie Fish Fight, Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, Daggett County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/osprey-black-billed-magpie-fish-mia-mcpherson-4349.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/osprey-black-billed-magpie-fish-mia-mcpherson-4349.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/osprey-black-billed-magpie-fish-mia-mcpherson-4349.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 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