Red-tailed Hawk Lift Off with Nesting Material in Northern Utah
I am not sure why the Red-tailed Hawk lifted off with nesting material in its bill from the nest, maybe the hawk felt that piece of nesting material wasn't suitable.
I am not sure why the Red-tailed Hawk lifted off with nesting material in its bill from the nest, maybe the hawk felt that piece of nesting material wasn't suitable.
This banking Red-tailed Hawk is one of the pair that are busy building their nest and making nearby forays to find nesting materials.
At the end of January there was a nice, clear morning at Farmington Bay WMA and I spotted a juvenile female Northern Harrier in a field of snow next to the road who was a cooperative subject.
I spent a little bit of time yesterday morning photographing a few birds including this Northern Harrier in flight over Farmington Bay WMA.
Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge is a winter wonderland right now and although it is very quiet it is still teeming with life.
One good bird can "make" a trip and yesterday a male Rough-legged Hawk made my trip to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge worthwhile.
It is early October but I am already starting to get excited about seeing my first of the season Rough-legged Hawks.
I came across this image of a male Rough-legged Hawk taken this past February and it caused me to wonder what this upcoming winter will be like.
But... things seem to be leveling out now much like this female Northern Harrier in flight that I photographed along the causeway to Antelope Island State Park in northern Utah in mid January.
Male Northern Harriers, also called Gray Ghosts, are especially delightful to my eye when their plumage contrasts with soft bluebird skies that have just a touch of habitat in them
As 2014 comes to an end I know I have tons to be grateful for in my personal life, my ever growing passion for bird and nature photography and life in general.
I'm glad the hawk wasn't any closer or I would have missed out on exactly this image that I will always remember was created on this Christmas Day.
The day in 2011 when I photographed this Rough-legged Hawk was gray but it didn't really bother me to capture this handsome bird in low light.
This year has been zipping by so quickly and it is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is already here and I really have so much to be grateful for.
I have started seeing Rough-legged Hawks again in northern Utah and that has me excited. I have seen them in Utah County and Davis County but I haven't gotten any quality photos of them yet
Lately it has been wonderful to see and photograph more birds including raptors. I think the long dry spell that started the end of July might be over finally.
Whatever the reason for this behavior I know that I enjoy photographing Northern Harriers while they are ground hunting in a winter wonderland.
There are times when the birds I want to photograph are too far away and then there are times when the birds get too close, this Red-tailed Hawk got too close.
I think all raptors have a ferocious appearance but this Ferruginous Hawk definitely looked ferocious to me yesterday right after it lifted off from its perch high on a pole.
I wonder if these two juvenile Red-tailed Hawks will hang around for the winter, I sure hope so.
I love the stare of raptors because they always appear so serious, intense and they have a no-nonsense look to their eyes like this Red-tailed Hawk has.
Western Kingbird After several days of not being able to photograph birds because of bad weather I was pleasantly surprised to have a medley of birds to photograph on Antelope Island Monday.
Two years ago I could often find Northern Harriers hunting along the causeway to Antelope Island State Park and I photographed a series of images of this female Northern Harrier on February 16th of that year.
Just a simple Red-tailed Hawk in flight image that I took early last week in Cedar Valley on a bright, clear day.
Farmington Bay Waterfowl Area used to be my "go to" place for photographing Northern Harriers but this winter they are hard to find.
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).
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.
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.
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.