In the winter I shoot a lot in fog, smog and low light conditions here in northern Utah but if you follow my blog you probably already know that and have heard me mention it a time or two (or four or a hundred).
Seeing the tail end... of 2013 on this last day of December.
I have had so many opportunities with Golden Eagles and each time something goes wrong.
Last week I did a post on the many nicknames used for Barn Owls and among them was "Ghost Owl" and for some reason when I first looked at this frame I thought the blurred wings did make it look "ghostly".
This Red-tailed Hawk image was taken just after the juvenile lifted off from the nest box and while I love the pose I do wish the light had been a bit better.
Eye color can be used to sex juvenile Northern Harriers, brown for juvenile females and yellowish for the males and this harrier is a definite brown-eyed beauty.
While I was photographing some ducks and grebes yesterday I spotted this female Northern Harrier in flight coming in from the south and when she flew over the water I was able to get a series of images of her against the sky.
Ferruginous Hawks are the largest hawk in North America which are only found in Canada and the United States and recent DNA analysis suggests that Ferruginous Hawks may be closer to Eagles in taxonomy than that of a hawk.
Some of my images make me laugh and this Osprey image with a Flounder that weighs almost as much as the bird does make me laugh.
I photographed these Black Skimmers in flight at the north beach of Fort De Soto County Park in Florida one cool January morning.
Seriously, I wish I understood more about molting with many of the raptors including Swainson's Hawk and perhaps if I ever find some free time I will attempt to study molt patterns more closely.
I was happy that I found this adult Red-tailed Hawk at Farmington Bay WMA and that it did lift off after a bit because as handsome as they can be perched they are even more beautiful On The Wing.
I wouldn't license this Red-tailed Hawk image for print because it has been altered but I like the image without the wires.
My father joined the Army at 17 years of age and was a Korean War Veteran who earned five Bronze Stars for the battles that he fought. Thank you for serving Dad.
I woke up to a fine layer of snow on the ground this morning and silly as it may sound that gets me excited for the birds that over winter in the Salt Lake Valley such as this Rough-legged Hawk.
This past Sunday I saw my first of the season Rough-legged Hawks and I was absolutely thrilled. There were definitely five different birds and a possible sixth.
Two years ago I photographed this Rough-legged Hawk with a vole in its talons as it flew along the causeway to Antelope Island State Park with the Great Salt Lake in the background.
After posting an image of a American White Pelican lifting off two days ago I thought I should post an photo of a Brown Pelican today for comparison.
This American White Pelican was taking off from a pond near where I live in Salt Lake County and I happened to click the shutter when its wings were extended upwards and when its feet had just slapped the water
Quite often I don't have much time at all to get ready to take images because you need to get close to the subject, find a good angle of light and make sure your camera settings will produce the best image for the conditions.
This adult Snowy Egret with muddy legs that were so dirty it covered up its "Golden Slippers".
I know, I don't have eye contact from my subject which is one of the unspoken rules in bird and wildlife photography but I don't mind bending those rules when it comes to images that I find interesting or appealing.
It has been quite some time since I posted a Bald Eagle here so today I present this adult in a landing pose that I photographed in February of 2011 at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area.
One of the juvenile Red-tailed Hawks I photographed on Antelope Island last year has "migrated" to Switzerland where my photo of it will be featured on a 5 x 15 meter sign for a yacht company.
Well, I made it through another week. Bird photography has been slow down here in the valley but there are signs migration is picking up. There was a decided nip to the air yesterday morning and I saw some frost on the ground while heading towards Antelope Island.
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.
After looking at these images that I took last Friday I am wondering if this hummingbird that I photographed is a female Broad-tailed Hummingbird.
I believe these are Calliope Hummingbirds but if I am wrong please do not hesitate to correct me, I don't get upset about things like that.
The dark morph Ferruginous Hawk above had just lifted off from a power pole when I photographed it with a partly cloudy sky in the background.
I love the Barn Owl's deep-set, dark and mysterious eyes, the silent way that they glide past, their monkey like face plus their beautiful colors and patterns.