Being a bird photographer has its rewards beyond the most obvious which for me is being out in nature or better yet being a part of it. It means with patience and plenty of time in the field I do get it right.
While in Montana earlier this month I had several opportunities to photograph juvenile Swainson's Hawks that were close and approachable but I didn't always have great light.
There are times when the birds I want to photograph are too far away and then there are times when the birds get too close, this Red-tailed Hawk got too close.
For three days I had great fun photographing two very obliging Swainson's Hawk juveniles at the east end of the Centennial Valley and by obliging I mean they were very approachable.
I think all raptors have a ferocious appearance but this Ferruginous Hawk definitely looked ferocious to me yesterday right after it lifted off from its perch high on a pole.
I wonder if these two juvenile Red-tailed Hawks will hang around for the winter, I sure hope so.
When taking any photograph it is possible to be photobombed and I have had my share of those including these two bird images.
I photographed this particular Red-tailed Hawk on five different days in Utah County and really enjoyed the cold, crisp mornings I had with it.
Last week while in Montana and Idaho I was able to photograph this Swainson's Hawk as it lifted off from a grassy slope heading up Monida Hill.
Today I am focusing on older posts that have raptors in them starting with Prairie Falcons then Swainson's Hawks, Red-tailed Hawks and Bald Eagles
I never know what treasures I will find or if I will be taking wildlife, scenic or bird images but that is part of the fun.
This dark morph Swainson's Hawk was on a hillside that we came upon while leaving the Centennial Valley to head back to Utah.
The Fourth of July is just a day away and soon many campgrounds, parks and beaches will be filled with people celebrating and sadly leaving trash behind.
I love the stare of raptors because they always appear so serious, intense and they have a no-nonsense look to their eyes like this Red-tailed Hawk has.
It is raining here in the valley this morning and snow is falling in the high country in the middle of June so I am sitting here dreaming of Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.
A simple but fishy post today of an Osprey that flew over my head at Fort De Soto County Park taken 5 years ago in Florida.
While in southwestern Montana last week I did see several Bald Eagles and this adult was most obliging as it perched on a conifer in the light of the rising sun.
I photographed this Osprey at Lettuce Lake Regional Park from the observation tower, the Osprey had tried to catch a fish but came up with just the filamentous algae in its talons.
Western Kingbird After several days of not being able to photograph birds because of bad weather I was pleasantly surprised to have a medley of birds to photograph on Antelope Island Monday.
Oil and gas companies want to come in our National Wildlife refuges to explore for oil and natural gas, they want to exploit; not preserve and protect, the resources found within the boundaries of our National Wildlife System.
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!
Yesterday I was able to see and photograph a pair of Red-tailed Hawks courting and copulating in Tooele County, Utah.
Two years ago I could often find Northern Harriers hunting along the causeway to Antelope Island State Park and I photographed a series of images of this female Northern Harrier on February 16th of that year.
Just a simple Red-tailed Hawk in flight image that I took early last week in Cedar Valley on a bright, clear day.
This Osprey flying in from the Gulf over the north beach of Fort De Soto came as a surprise to us so I had little time to prepare and get my setting right due to how fast the Osprey was flying.
One great bird can make a day or even an entire trip worthwhile and this particular Red-tailed Hawk photographed in Utah County has made two days wonderful so far.
Today I have just a few images of a Red-tailed Hawk I spotted yesterday on a power pole in Utah County near the southern part of the Oquirrh Mountain Range.
But for me the "Snow Birds" I have grown to love here in Utah are Rough-legged Hawks who only visit in the winter and spend the rest of their lives breeding in high subarctic and Arctic regions.
One of the birds I photographed yesterday was this handsome Red-tailed Hawk that I spotted in a tree at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area.
This Red-shouldered Hawk photo was taken in Florida in November of 2008 just after the hawk lifted off from an old snag near a Great Blue Heron I had been photographing.