birds of prey

I have Montana’s birds on my mind

By |April 14th, 2013|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, Red-tailed Hawks, Sandhill Cranes, Swainson's Hawks|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

This time of the year I start dreaming about the Centennial Valley of Montana and of the birds that call the valley home during the summer.

Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk Learning To Hunt

By |April 7th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Pinellas County, Red-shouldered Hawks, Sawgrass Lake Park|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

This juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk was perched on a metal fence post so I opted to go for a portrait to remove the "hand of man".

Weird Canada Geese behavior and a Red-tailed Hawk building a nest

By |March 16th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Canada Geese, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The weird Canada Geese behavior on the top of the cliff led me to finding a Red-tailed Hawks nest though and I am tickled about that.

Side lit American Kestrel

By |March 12th, 2013|Categories: American Kestrels, Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I came across this American Kestrel image yesterday while moving images to a new external hard drive and realized I hadn't edited any of the photos in the series yet, so I did.

More American Barn Owl images

By |February 11th, 2013|Categories: American Barn Owls, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Some of the Birds I Love at Bear River National Wildlife Refuge

By |February 6th, 2013|Categories: American Avocets, American Barn Owls, American White Pelicans, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Black-crowned Night Herons, Black-necked Stilts, Box Elder County, Duck hybrids, Eastern Kingbirds, Forster's Terns, Marsh Wrens, Snowy Egrets, Swainson's Hawks, Tundra Swans, Utah, Western Grebes, Western Kingbirds, Yellow-headed Blackbirds|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

One of my favorite locations to photograph birds in northern Utah is Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. I've selected some of the birds there that delight and entertain me while I observe and photograph them.

Great Horned Owl fledgling in a Montana granary window

By |February 2nd, 2013|Categories: Glacier County, Great Horned Owls, Montana, Nesting Birds|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Currently throughout the breeding range of Great Horned Owls the owls have either begun to nest or have nested already. Great Horned Owls have a large range and are found in the U.S., Canada and Central America.

Immature Red-tailed, Rough-legged, Ferruginous and Swainson’s Hawks

By |January 27th, 2013|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Davis County, Ferruginous Hawks, Montana, Red-tailed Hawks, Rough-legged Hawks, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

American Barn Owl On A Foggy Morning

By |January 24th, 2013|Categories: American Barn Owls, Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, High Key, Low light, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Harlan’s Hawk Juvenile With An American Coot (Graphic)

By |January 23rd, 2013|Categories: American Coots, Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Harlan's Hawk, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Small in the Frame – Bald Eagle

By |January 20th, 2013|Categories: Bald Eagles, Birds, Golden Spike National Historic Site, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday Ron, Brian Gatlin and I went to Bear River National Wildlife Refuge and the Golden Spike National Historic Site area in bad light, falling snow and lake fog looking for birds to photograph and we came up pretty much empty-handed but we did find this adult Bald Eagle perched on some snow-covered rocks going towards the Golden Spike National Historic Site Visitor Center as the snow fell.

Some fun with birds from yesterday

By |January 19th, 2013|Categories: American Barn Owls, Antelope Island State Park, Black-crowned Night Herons, Chukars, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Great Blue Herons, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

A wonderful fun-filled day with great companionship and plenty of birds. I can't ask for more.

American Barn Owl Image Choices

By |January 16th, 2013|Categories: American Barn Owls, Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

A Golden Eagle that was TOO close

By |January 13th, 2013|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Golden Eagles, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Fledgling Burrowing Owl

By |December 19th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Burrowing Owls, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

This fledgling Burrowing Owl was just learning to fly at the time and wasn't always great at landing. When I took this image it had made a soft crash landing into the Rabbitbrush and it was trying to get its balance back.

Female Northern Harrier in flight

By |December 13th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Adult Prairie Falcon With A Full Crop

By |December 8th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Prairie Falcons, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I wish I had been in a better position with a better angle of light but due to vegetation growing along the road there were just a few clear areas between the Rabbitbrush to get an unobstructed view of the Prairie Falcon but I do like how the photo shows off the full crop.

Photographing Red-tailed Hawk Juveniles On The Wing

By |December 4th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

These are a just few images that I have edited taken since August of Red-tailed Hawk juveniles on Antelope Island State Park.

Short-eared Owl at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge

By |December 2nd, 2012|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Short-eared Owls|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

Due to a crash in the vole population at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge last summer there weren't many Short-eared Owls around the refuge but the few that were there were real beauties.

Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk

By |December 1st, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

One of the nice things about cruddy weather is that I get the chance to edit some of the images that are languishing in my files that I have taken but not gotten around to processing. Here are a few of a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk photographed in August on Antelope Island State Park.

Swainson’s Hawk in the Centennial Valley of Montana

By |November 17th, 2012|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Swainson's Hawks|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

This adult Swainson's had two juveniles nearby that were perched on the conifer tree that their natal nest was in and the sun was getting close to setting. Sometimes I wish I could "speak" raptor so I could know what they are saying.

Prairie Falcon with a Northern Shoveler as prey (Graphic)

By |November 11th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Prairie Falcons, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Earlier this morning I spotted a Prairie Falcon perched on a rock while on the Antelope Island Causeway, before we could get stopped and into position to photograph the falcon it took off over the water and attacked a Northern Shoveler.

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