![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/northern-harrier-5433-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern-harrier-5433-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nThe Gray Ghost against the starkness of the Great Salt Lake and its mudflats.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n In March of 2015 I had left Antelope Island for home and unexpectedly came across this male Northern Harrier hunting near the shore along the causeway. The\u00a0Great Salt Lake\u00a0is often beautiful but when the weather is blustery it can turn the water from a glorious\u00a0blue or green to a much grayer color that most folks find less attractive. The lake can be seen at the top of the frame\u00a0with some of the “barren” mudflats below it.<\/p>\n It’s a stark setting for a beautiful bird but if you’re a fan of the lake and familiar with it\u00a0like I am (here in Utah many folks\u00a0are neither\u00a0and that’s too bad) that combination in a photo like this one\u00a0immediately rings true in a good way.<\/p>\n Some may wonder why a vole specialist like this harrier would bother hunting here because there’s obviously no rodents in the water and virtually none on the seemingly barren\u00a0mud flats.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2500, f\/7.1, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n But 4 frames later the harrier descended so\u00a0we can now\u00a0see where voles are found – in this vegetation that was below the bird in the first shot. There’s quite a\u00a0lot of plant growth from here all the way up the sides of the causeway to the road so especially at certain times of year voles abound there. And so do harriers, particularly\u00a0along the eastern half of the causeway and on both sides.<\/p>\n Most plants cannot survive near the\u00a0extreme saltiness of the lake – that\u00a0saltiness\u00a0combined with our current\u00a0drought and water mismanagement by the state of Utah (particularly the latter)\u00a0produces the extensive\u00a0mud flats.<\/p>\n Both Rough-legged Hawks and American Kestrels have learned to hunt voles here too so\u00a0that part of the causeway during certain seasons\u00a0can be fertile hunting grounds for the birder and bird photographer.<\/p>\n But at other times of\u00a0the year there usually isn’t a raptor to be seen in the area.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Gray Ghost against the starkness of the Great Salt Lake and its mudflats.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/northern-harrier-5438-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern-harrier-5438-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n