Curious Short-eared Owl Fledgling At Bear River MBR
I took quite a few photos of the fledgling Short-eared Owl that I had a clear view of and even though the lighting wasn't the best I was enchanted by the views I had of it.
I took quite a few photos of the fledgling Short-eared Owl that I had a clear view of and even though the lighting wasn't the best I was enchanted by the views I had of it.
Three days ago one of the birds that the Song Sparrows chased off was an adult female Brown-headed Cowbird that landed on a serviceberry in front of me.
I will say that my favorite and most memorable times photographing Long-billed Curlews happened while I was still living in Florida well away from their breeding grounds.
The young Short-eared Owl in this photo was parallaxing when I photographed it in which basically means the fledgling owl was moving its head to gain different viewpoints.
These are the life stages of the Swainson's Hawks I see, observe and photograph here in Utah, Idaho and Montana.
While I was up in Box Elder County, Utah four days ago I spotted my first of season Western Kingbirds chasing each other around in flight near a ranch.
I have taken thousands of photos of Uinta Ground Squirrels in green grasses, on rocks, climbing stumps, at their burrows, and in sagebrush but not a single image of them in the snow.
If I can find a protective head net that actually works I might just venture back out onto the island after the no-see-ums come out because I miss photographing nesting Loggerhead Shrikes.
The comparisons I have made between juvenile, immature and adult Sage Thrashers are basic, there are more ways to determine their age but I wanted to keep the comparisons simple.
Two years ago I was able to find and photograph quiet a few young Gray Catbirds high in the Wasatch Mountain canyons including this one who seemed to be keeping an eye on me.
I did find a sub-adult Bald Eagle resting on the ice on the last leg of the refuge loop and even though it was at a distance I wanted to photograph it because of the marshy habitat it was in.
I spent some time yesterday morning focused on photographing an immature Black-crowned Night Heron at the dawn of the day in the marsh at Farmington Bay WMA.
For me this female Northern Harrier and the immature harrier in the other photo are a classic examples of what I like to call a hidden treasure type of image.
On the first of February when I found and photographed an unusual and distinctive Bald Eagle with leucism I also photographed two more immature eagles in the same area.
Yesterday morning I spent some time up in the Wasatch Mountains and I am so glad that I did because I found a second winter Bald Eagle with leucism.
I can't imagine not seeing these beautiful Mountain Bluebirds feeding, breeding and raising their young in the mountains that are close to where I live.
Two days ago when I stopped counting Rough-legged Hawks while at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge the number had topped out at fifteen.
Two frames later the immature Northern Harrier tilted its head, looked directly towards my lens, and seemed to eyeball me and my gear.
Sometimes raptors can look deadly serious and intense, especially when they are watching, diving on or consuming prey but they can appear to look a little goofy too.
I need to get to Bear River MBR soon because I have visions of Tundra Swans drifting through my mind and I'd love to see them in person on the marshes of the refuge again.
Both of these drake Common Goldeneyes were photographed on January 7, 2018, but they don't look quite the same.
This immature Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk is striking with those white polka dot spots on its back, I don't think I have ever seen a young Red-tail where the white spots on the scapulars are so pronounced.
The thing about this immature Red-tailed Hawk photo is this: I don't like the background color because I see these colors, tones and hues so frequently where I live in northern Utah.
I didn't get the Brown Creeper photos I have been dreaming of yesterday but I did take lovely images of an immature Ferruginous Hawk in early morning, golden light.
I don't see nearly as many harriers over the marshes at Farmington Bay as I used to five to ten years ago but the marshes have changed some since I moved to northern Utah.
I photographed this young male Red-winged Blackbird singing at the top of a Russian olive tree at Farmington Bay WMA nine days ago.
Our Clark's and Western Grebes will be leaving here soon and except for a few downy feathers on this one's forehead it looks like it is ready to take on its first migration.
I have to wonder though how many people walked or drove right past this young Red-tailed Hawk and never noticed that it was even there
I couldn't have asked for a better birdy subject yesterday morning than this relaxed and cooperative immature Cooper's Hawk and I loved the setting it was in too.
Spotting this immature Cooper's Hawk resting in sagebrush yesterday was the highlight of my morning and even though the setting is messy I like that it shows this young hawk in the habitat this species can be found in.