{"id":22977,"date":"2014-03-31T05:48:57","date_gmt":"2014-03-31T11:48:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=22977"},"modified":"2014-03-31T05:48:57","modified_gmt":"2014-03-31T11:48:57","slug":"northern-harrier-in-flight-over-the-great-salt-lake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2014\/03\/31\/northern-harrier-in-flight-over-the-great-salt-lake\/","title":{"rendered":"Northern Harrier In Flight Over The Great Salt Lake"},"content":{"rendered":"

Occasionally a Northern Harrier will come in close to the photographer as\u00a0the hawk\u00a0hunts the narrow confines of the causeway to Antelope Island.<\/p>\n

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\"northern<\/p>\n

1\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D, 500 f\/4, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Which is exactly what this bird was doing in the winter of 2012.\u00a0 I like the lake in the background at bottom to help anchor the bird in the frame.<\/p>\n

Sharp-eyed observers may notice something slightly funky\u00a0about the right eye.\u00a0 I noticed it during processing and at first I thought\u00a0the bird\u00a0might have a slightly “blown” eye because it didn’t quite look like a closed nictitating membrane (nictitans).<\/p>\n

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\"northern<\/p>\n

But on closer inspection (a very large crop of the same image) it indeed turned out to be a half-closed nictitans.\u00a0 Depending on its color and opacity the membrane can look quite different from species to species.\u00a0 In harriers the membrane is\u00a0quite transparent and clear so it is most apparent at the leading edge as it moves horizontally across the eye.\u00a0 It can be frustrating to get a shot that you like a lot otherwise but the membrane is completely or partially closed.<\/p>\n