Yesterday was frustrating for me near Snowville, Utah because there were raptors all around but not many of them were close enough to photograph and the ones that were close were either vey skittish or wouldn't fly off of the power poles even after long periods of time.
I don't often have the opportunity to photograph juvenile Western Kingbirds but last week I did at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in Box Elder County.
Earlier this week I was enthralled to see the Alaska Basin that straddles Idaho and Montana and winds through Beaverhead National Forest and Targhee National Forest.
I saw several Tyrant Flycatchers on my last trip to Montana, Eastern and Western Kingbirds and a couple of Western Wood-Pewees that were hawking from fence posts and barbed wire along a gravel road.
Swainson's Hawks are one of the three Buteos that I see with regularity on my visits to the Centennial Valley of Montana, Red-tailed and Ferruginous Hawks are the other two.
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".
A few of my non-Utahn friends have asked me what an inversion is after I have mentioned it, this image might help to show what an inversion can look like.
The scientific name of Eastern Kingbirds is Tyrannus tyrannus, Tyrannus means "tyrant" and they are well named because they will harass any bird that comes near their nests including crows, ravens and much larger birds like hawks.
During my travels in Montana earlier this month I saw loads of Savannah Sparrows and although there were many in southwestern Montana I only photographed the ones on the farm in Glacier County.
Not only did I see numerous Red-tailed Hawk juveniles on my recent trip to Montana, I also saw quite a few Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni) juveniles too.
While I was away in Montana for eight days starting last week I had a fantastic time photographing this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk.
On my mid-July journey to southwestern Montana it seemed like there were juvenile hawks every where I looked, the east and west side of the Centennial Valley and the south and north sides too.
Western Kingbirds appear to have had a wonderful nesting season here in Utah because there are plenty of young birds perching on wires and branches loudly demanding food from the frazzled looking adults.
I've found Bald Eagles difficult to approach most of the time which is why a long lens is often needed. But not this one year old bald eagle.
Sometimes life gets so busy that it takes me quite awhile to edit some of the images I take, this Song Sparrow photo is one of those.