Some people might not find high key photos to their tastes but I find that I enjoy them because of their simplicity and how the high key background allows my eyes to focus clearly on my subject's form and beauty.
Great Blue Herons are year round residents in both Florida and Utah although conditions during the winter months can be starkly different for these large wading birds in the two locations and climates.
Perched American Barn Owl images might not be as dynamic as those when the owl's are in flight but I enjoy them just as much as I do those with more action.
Isn't this Short-eared Owl lovely with her big yellow eyes? It had been a while since I had seen a Short-eared Owl and I was quite surprised when I spotted her on top of some snow-covered Rabbitbrush late last month along the causeway to Antelope Island State Park.
Just a few Red-tailed Hawk images that I have been meaning to process and share.
In my post yesterday I shared a Coyote photo in the snow and wanted to share a few more of the Coyotes I saw on Antelope Island State Park on Monday.
Yesterday when I saw this running Chukar image on my camera LCD in mid-stride and mid-air I had to chuckle because it looks something like a feathered Nerf football some one tossed across the snow.
Today I thought I would post images of the juvenile Buteos that I see most often in Utah and Montana, they are Red-tailed, Rough-legged, Ferruginous and Swainson's Hawks.
Fog can add a moody feel to images and yesterday there was plenty of fog at Farmington Bay WMA. There were a few Barn Owls hunting for food and I captured images of this one as it flew towards me.
I haven't had many opportunities to photograph the Harlan's subspecies of the Red-tailed Hawk so I was thrilled yesterday when I spotted a juvenile dark morph Harlan's Hawk feeding on a dead American Coot on the bank of a creek.
These Chukar images were taken last Friday and this bird is the same one in my post titled "Some fun with birds from yesterday", I wanted to share more photos of it.
A wonderful fun-filled day with great companionship and plenty of birds. I can't ask for more.
Ring-necked Pheasant males are far more colorful than the females and in snow they seem even more vividly colored.
I photographed this perched Barn Owl yesterday at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area in northern Utah near a hill that was covered in snow which gave this image a high key effect.
I have been noticing more Ring-necked Pheasants than usual of late but that it mostly because the birds don't blend well into the snow and we have had plenty of the white stuff fall the past few weeks.
American Barn Owls are typically strictly nocturnal but during harsh winters with lots of snow they do hunt during the day here in Utah.
Early yesterday morning Antelope Island State Park did not have the best conditions for bird photography, there were clouds, a bit of lake fog and low light so when I spotted this Golden Eagle perched on a sagebrush in those conditions I was dismayed.
I spotted this Great Blue Heron yesterday at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area and loved the setting with the fresh snow blanketing the steep creek bank.
It is almost hard to believe that in just two months these Chukars will be fighting for territories as they begin the mating season while there is over 9 inches of fresh snow on the ground where I live this morning.
Looking at the huge lobed feet of American Coots is enough to make me laugh. Yesterday I just could not resist these birds.
Yesterday I spotted a covey of Chukars on Antelope Island foraging in the snow, this Chukar was pulling guard duty and standing on top of a snow covered rock and for a bit it was calling.
I wanted to share a few images taken two days ago when Antelope Island was covered with a fresh snow fall. The entire island looked glorious and the sunlight caused the snow to sparkle much to my delight.
Fresh snow fell on Antelope Island last night and it made for wonderful settings for the subjects I photographed this morning like this Chukar. I haven't been seeing the Chukars regularly lately so I was very pleased to see them again.
The White-crowned Sparrow in this image is small in the frame, the bird isn't super sharp and there isn't a lot of contrast or color to the photo either yet the image speaks to me.
Throughout these three experiences in finding escaped falconry birds what I have learned is that falconry is for experts not for people who just think it is cool to have a pet raptor.
This Western Meadowlark image was taken last month on Antelope Island State Park. I meant to post it earlier but forgot because I got so busy trying to set up my new computer. Life outside of bird photography does get in the way at times.
There is something about American Kestrels that speaks to me. They might be our smallest falcon in North America but they have big attitudes, fierce characters and are terrific hunters.
Ring-necked Pheasants are colorful upland game birds that are native to Asia and were introduced into North America for recreational hunting purposes and now occur widespread across southern Canada and in many areas of the U.S. except for some of the southern states.
Typically I see far more Northern Harriers in the winter here in Utah than I do during the breeding season which might be partly due to the harriers preferring to nest within marshy wetland areas which are in abundance around the Great Salt Lake.
I recall that when I first started photographing the juvenile Red-tailed Hawks in this area back in August that they missed their prey more times than they would capture it and now they seem to have gone the other way, they are catching the prey more than they are missing it.