Juvenile Eastern and Western Kingbirds – Their Ranges Overlap Here in Utah
The ranges for these two species of kingbirds overlap here in northern Utah but I see more of the Western Kingbirds than I do the Eastern Kingbirds.
The ranges for these two species of kingbirds overlap here in northern Utah but I see more of the Western Kingbirds than I do the Eastern Kingbirds.
The young Mountain Bluebird turned and snatched the cricket from the male quickly before any of its siblings could reach the branches.
I saw the Red-tailed Hawk chicks near where the nest had been though and I spent less than two minutes with them and took a few images before leaving them alone.
People usually think of American Coot chicks as either cute or ugly, I'm in the cute camp when it comes to these chicks.
Yesterday morning I drove up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge to see what birds I could find to photograph and I am glad I did because I had a wonderful juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron close up experience.
Little Blue Herons start off their lives with white plumage, then look piebald with blue and white fathers and finally look more "blue" as adults.
Two years ago in July I photographed this young Burrowing Owl on a post in morning light and I relaxed and let a smile form on my lips.
I'm drawn to and fascinated by these western desert Burrowing Owls because they are beautiful, interesting and animated subjects. And they are pretty darn cute!
Short-eared Owls are nomadic because they follow their main prey which is voles and if the vole population is low the Short-eared Owl density will also be low.
Without science you would not see this Short-eared Owl chick photo. You are here viewing it through a device using an internet connection to connect to a page housed on a server.
This first year Red-tailed Hawk close up in the snow storm was a reminder of how much our birds and wildlife have to struggle to get through the harsh winter.
The Great Blue Herons here in Utah are dealing with ice, snow and bitter cold temperatures now but the Great Blue Herons in Florida they have started courting and building their nests.
Is it any wonder I feel like the juvenile White-crowned Sparrow in this photo that is hiding its head? My inbox is getting junked up and my delete key is smoking from deleting the Cyber Monday sales pitches.
I photographed this juvenile Roseate Spoonbill in May of 2008 from inside a lagoon at Fort De Soto's north while the immature spoonbill and a few adults preened and rested on the shoreline.
Yesterday at Farmington Bay I was pleased to photograph this juvenile Northern Harrier female in flight as she went past me while I sat in a mobile blind.
This year was exceptional for photographing Short-eared Owls in Utah, Idaho and Montana and being able to see them in all the stages of their growth.
To the untrained eye American Bitterns and Black-crowned Night Herons can be confused so I thought I'd visually compare the two species with other keys to aid in their identification.
Last winter I photographed adult and juvenile White-crowned Sparrows in the snow in low light conditions and was pleased with the resulting photos.
It was wonderful to be close to the juvenile Brown Pelican and to be able to take portraits of it plus I also enjoyed being able to see all the fine details of its plumage, the texture of its bill and look into its dark eyes.
When I found this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk on a lichen covered boulder in Idaho I took a little over 160 frames of it.
I photographed these two Red-tailed Hawks near old route 91 in Idaho which runs close to Interstate 15, part of the road is still paved and part of it is gravel.
I spent some time in the Centennial Valley of Montana yesterday and the best bird of the morning was this adult Prairie Falcon photographed on a cattle chute with a white cloud in the background.
I was able to fire a burst of shots showing the juvenile Red-tailed Hawk taking off from a conifer and liked the second and third shots in the series the most.
I can now give another update on the Short-eared Owl, he will be going to Hawkwatch International in October to be used as an educational bird!
Vultures and condors are scavengers and help to clean up the environment by consuming carrion, road kill and gut piles left from the kills of human and non-human hunters.
Last year on September 8th I located an immature Sharp-shinned Hawk in the Centennial Valley of Montana early in the morning as it flew low to the ground looking for small birds to capture and consume.
I miss these young Short-eared Owls but I hope they are doing well and will return next year to breed and have young of their own.
It will take several molts before this immature Ring-billed Gull looks like an adult but by now, a year after it was photographed, this juvenile should look more like the adult.
I was able to take several images of this hungry Western Grebe chick begging to be fed and laughed out loud when I saw this funny face through my view finder.
The sound you hear in the video is just one Western Grebe chick begging to be fed and it was loud even over the wind!