Photographing Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk Siblings
I spent 26 minutes yesterday photographing juvenile Red-tailed Hawk siblings and had a blast watching them preen, lift off, flying, scratching, resting and landing.
I spent 26 minutes yesterday photographing juvenile Red-tailed Hawk siblings and had a blast watching them preen, lift off, flying, scratching, resting and landing.
Ah, Mia, it is just a bird. No, it isn't just a bird. Because California Gulls aren't the only birds at risk of disappearing from the skies, shorelines and waters of Utah.
I spent yesterday morning enjoying a Broad-tailed Hummingbird bliss in the Wasatch Mountains by finding their favorite perches and photographing them feeding, resting, and defending their territories.
I had a great time photographing this beautiful rufous Red-tailed Hawk yesterday morning and I'm glad I had good light when I did.
I miss seeing and photographing Turkey Vultures during the winter and now I am excited that very soon I'll be seeing them roosting on fence posts, rocky outcroppings, cattle gates, trees, corrals and the ground, riding the thermals, thermoregulating and scarfing up road kill all over the place!
I always feel fortunate when I am able to photograph winter Barn Owls in flight during daylight hours but that means that these gorgeous owls are struggling to stay alive and that is a concern for me.
I'd gotten the long distance images of the Bald Eagles at Farmington Bay that I wanted to take plus close up images of this adult eagle as it flew past me. It was a great morning to be at Farmington Bay.
I had a Common Raven that was close enough to get a few images of it in flight and it excited me.
If I hadn't already been stopped to photograph the blackbird I wouldn't have seen this immature Bald Eagle flying towards me in time to take the photos that I took of it on the wing.
When the clouds cleared out yesterday morning there were birds to be found and today I am focusing my daily post on the White-faced Ibis that overwinter in the marshes of Farmington Bay WMA that I photographed there yesterday.
Being at eye level with this Rough-legged Hawk carrying prey along the causeway to Antelope Island is an experience I won't soon forget.
In the case of this photo of a lone Canada Goose flying in front of the snowy Wasatch Mountains I took the photo because I liked how nicely lit the goose was in contrast to the darker, snow and cloud covered mountains.
I am itching to get back out into the field and one of the places I am most excited to get back to is Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in Box Elder County, Utah because of the Tundra Swans that I know are there.
Snow and clouds are in the forecast for today and I have decided that today is the day for me to migrate On The Wing Photography over to the new server that I mentioned a while back.
The light was best when the geese flew in front of the snow-covered Wasatch Mountains which is when I photographed this flying Canada Goose with its wings above its body.
One photo that made me laugh as soon as I saw it on my camera's LCD screen, a peek-a-boo Canada Goose peering at me through its wing tips as it came in to land on the pond.
I spent some time at one of the local ponds yesterday afternoon and came home with photos that made me smile and for a little while I forgot about the long hours I spent getting skunked on the road earlier in the day.
While I would have enjoyed having this male American Kestrel closer to me as it turned in flight than it was yesterday morning I found that I liked this frame with the tiny falcon turning in flight being small in the frame too.
So it wasn't a great morning but it wasn't all that bad either because I was able to focus on a Short-eared Owl, Brewer's Blackbirds and one curious Long-tailed Weasel.
With cold fronts moving in it is indeed time for me to keep an eye on the sky for flocks of Tundra Swans migrating back into northern Utah
I've lived in many locations during my lifetime where I didn't see or hear Canada Geese at all, so I don't take them for granted; I celebrate their calls.
I like gulls, I like the way they look, I like the way they fly, I like the way they try to steal food from each other and other birds, I like the challenges of photographing them and I really like how scrappy they are.
It has been a while since I photographed Snowy Egrets so having them in my viewfinder yesterday morning was a real treat especially since they will be migrating soon and I will go the winter without seeing them.
On Sunday I was up in Box Elder County looking for birds but I also felt I had to stop and take some images of Rocky Mountain Bee Plants that were blooming along side the road.
As a bird photographer I have found that it is easy to make any species of owl look interesting and appealing in my images but it is more of a challenge to do that with Turkey Vultures but that doesn't mean I don't try. I will always try.
When I spotted this immature Black-crowned Night Heron on the wing at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in April I hoped it would fly in closer than it did, still I liked the photos I took of it with a clear blue sky in the background.
I have been trying to photograph this rufous morph Red-tailed Hawk in good light since the first time I spotted her on the 24th of March in northern Utah, yesterday I finally accomplished that goal.
I grew up calling Turkey Vultures by the name "Turkey Buzzards" and every once in a blue moon I still unintentionally slip and call them by their nickname instead of their proper common name.
I get absolutely tired of the frustrations I have had trying to photograph Golden Eagles, it seems that something or someone always messes with my chances of getting the images I want of them.
When I lived in Florida I saw Snowy Egrets year round and that kind of spoiled me but here in Utah they leave for the winter and come back to the marshes and wetlands surrounding the Great Salt Lake for their breeding season.