{"id":97519,"date":"2021-11-23T04:45:04","date_gmt":"2021-11-23T11:45:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=97519"},"modified":"2021-11-23T04:48:56","modified_gmt":"2021-11-23T11:48:56","slug":"adult-female-northern-harrier-lifting-off-from-a-tumbleweed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/11\/23\/adult-female-northern-harrier-lifting-off-from-a-tumbleweed\/","title":{"rendered":"Adult Female Northern Harrier Lifting Off From A Tumbleweed"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FemaleFemale Northern Harrier resting on a tumbleweed \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

When I spotted this adult female Northern Harrier resting on a tumbleweed yesterday morning it took a few moments for me to point her out. Female and immature Northern Harriers blend into the marshy habitat at Farmington Bay WMA well at this time of the year because the coloration of their plumage matches much of the fall vegetation found there. This female harrier was out on the flats on what was a bright but chilly morning.<\/p>\n

Tumbleweeds<\/span><\/a>, also known as Russian Thistles, are introduced and invasive plants. This one made for a handy perch for the female harrier.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Northern Harrier starting to lift off from a tumbleweed \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I was beginning to think the female harrier was not going to do much of anything but rest in the warmth of the rays of the rising sun when she started to lift off from the tumbleweed. In this photo her feet are still on the tumbleweed and her wings are extended above her body.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Northern Harrier lifting off from a tumbleweed \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

And in this image her feet had just left the tumbleweed as she leapt into the air and she seemed to be focused on something in the distance.<\/p>\n

It isn’t all that often that I find raptors perched on tumbleweeds so when I do I try to take full advantage of the opportunity in front of me.<\/p>\n

I struggled yesterday morning with softness issues due to heat wave distortion again. According to the hourly forecast there was supposed to have been a 8 to 9 mph breeze. It was no where near that. I could barely detect a breeze at all. I photographed this harrier later in the morning when the temps had risen and most of the photos of her were sharp.<\/p>\n

On another note, I seem to have tweaked the radial nerve in my left forearm and wrist. I can touch that nerve on my wrist and it feels like an electrical jolt. I can’t wait for that to go away. While not extremely painful it is causing some problems for me and for now I have that wrist wrapped and I am trying to baby it. Lifting my heavy lens and camera isn’t much of an issue because I lift it with both hands but holding onto the lens foot with my left hand while I am shooting does cause me some pain. I need to try and figure out how to baby my left wrist while I am in the field until this radial nerve issue is resolved. Typing while my wrist is wrapped in an ace bandage is a bit of a pain too.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

When I spotted this adult female Northern Harrier resting on a tumbleweed yesterday morning it took a few moments for me to point her out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":97508,"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":[4004,970,2663,765,3981,4620,6452,4070,5672,4052,4122,2783,3164,4033,4169,2386,4359,4282,4944,4094,4006,153,4156,3792,5428,5196,30,4095],"class_list":["post-97519","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-autumn","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-circus-hudsonius","tag-davis-county","tag-fall","tag-farmington-bay-wma","tag-female","tag-flats","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-harrier","tag-harriers","tag-hawk","tag-hawks","tag-hawks-of-utah","tag-hen","tag-lift-off","tag-lifting-off","tag-marsh","tag-northern-harrier","tag-raptors","tag-resting","tag-take-off","tag-taking-off","tag-tumbleweed","tag-utah-2","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/northern-harrier-female-tumbleweed-mia-mcpherson-5776.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-pmT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":118923,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/12\/12\/immature-female-northern-harrier\/","url_meta":{"origin":97519,"position":0},"title":"Immature 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Northern Harrier On The Wing Over Farmington Bay WMA","author":"Mia 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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