![\"northern](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/northern-harrier-4955-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIt isn’t often that I get a second chance at a\u00a0male Northern Harrier\u00a0in flight when things don’t work out the first time.<\/p>\n
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\u00a01\/1250, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n Three\u00a0mornings\u00a0ago (7:43 AM)\u00a0I photographed this male Northern Harrier as it hunted along the causeway to Antelope Island at dawn. The bird (presumably the same one) has been hanging around the east end of the causeway for several weeks now.\u00a0The causeway runs east-west and the harrier was flying west with the rising\u00a0sun directly behind him. I was able to get dozens of shots of him, many of\u00a0 them sharp, but the light angle was such that the width of his body always shaded his narrower\u00a0face. This image has more light on the face than any of the others but it’s not much.<\/p>\n It was frustrating to get that many close,\u00a0sharp shots of the Gray Ghost in flight and have that lighting problem.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a01\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n Two hours and 21 minutes later (10:04 AM)\u00a0I encountered him again in the same area of the causeway as I was leaving the island. This time he was on the other side of the road and the sun had moved to the south and much higher in the sky\u00a0so now my problem was getting light on\u00a0his underside. But for this shot he dipped toward me and solved that lighting\u00a0problem. The background (mudflats of the Great Salt Lake) may not particularly\u00a0appeal to some but I\u00a0do like the angle on the bird and the eye contact with their striking lemon-yellow color.<\/p>\n And there’s actually good light on the face!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a01\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n Five frames later he gave me the evil eye and then skedaddled.<\/p>\n I believe I’ve seen this same bird “sky dancing” in the area\u00a0as he tried to woo a female harrier as his mate so I have high hopes of nesting success for them. I’ll be keeping an eye out for them\u00a0and wishing them the best.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It isn’t often that I get a second chance at a male Northern Harrier in flight when things don’t work out the first time.<\/p>\n![\"northern](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/northern-harrier-5431-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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