Tale Of A Red-tailed Hawk
This is a rather short tale about a Red-tailed Hawk although the tail of the Red-tailed Hawk is no shorter than any other Red-tailed Hawk.
This is a rather short tale about a Red-tailed Hawk although the tail of the Red-tailed Hawk is no shorter than any other Red-tailed Hawk.
The other day I came across that post and felt very embarrassed because on that post I realized I had incorrectly ID'd this bird as a Red-tailed Hawk.
This time of the year I start dreaming about the Centennial Valley of Montana and of the birds that call the valley home during the summer.
This juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk was perched on a metal fence post so I opted to go for a portrait to remove the "hand of man".
Tooele County beckoned yesterday and I am glad it did because of coming across this adult Red-tailed Hawk.
As soon as this cold front passes I will be out looking for the birds of spring including these majestic Swainson's Hawks.
The weird Canada Geese behavior on the top of the cliff led me to finding a Red-tailed Hawks nest though and I am tickled about that.
It was the day after Christmas in 2009 when I watched this four year old Bald Eagle lift off from this pole to catch this fish in the water impoundment nearby and to my surprise it flew right back to the same pole to devour it.
This year hasn't provided me with as many opportunities to photograph Rough-legged Hawks as last winter did and before long these raptors will be heading to the high Arctic to find mates on their breeding grounds.
One of my favorite locations to photograph birds in northern Utah is Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. I've selected some of the birds there that delight and entertain me while I observe and photograph them.
Today I thought I would post images of the juvenile Buteos that I see most often in Utah and Montana, they are Red-tailed, Rough-legged, Ferruginous and Swainson's Hawks.
Five days ago I posted a Bald Eagle image where the eagle was small in the frame and explained that I felt that the setting was as important as the subject, I also feel that way about this image of a Red-shouldered Hawk juvenile perched in a tree.
I haven't had many opportunities to photograph the Harlan's subspecies of the Red-tailed Hawk so I was thrilled yesterday when I spotted a juvenile dark morph Harlan's Hawk feeding on a dead American Coot on the bank of a creek.
A wonderful fun-filled day with great companionship and plenty of birds. I can't ask for more.
Early yesterday morning Antelope Island State Park did not have the best conditions for bird photography, there were clouds, a bit of lake fog and low light so when I spotted this Golden Eagle perched on a sagebrush in those conditions I was dismayed.
Typically I see far more Northern Harriers in the winter here in Utah than I do during the breeding season which might be partly due to the harriers preferring to nest within marshy wetland areas which are in abundance around the Great Salt Lake.
I wish I had been in a better position with a better angle of light but due to vegetation growing along the road there were just a few clear areas between the Rabbitbrush to get an unobstructed view of the Prairie Falcon but I do like how the photo shows off the full crop.
These are a just few images that I have edited taken since August of Red-tailed Hawk juveniles on Antelope Island State Park.
One of the nice things about cruddy weather is that I get the chance to edit some of the images that are languishing in my files that I have taken but not gotten around to processing. Here are a few of a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk photographed in August on Antelope Island State Park.
This adult Swainson's had two juveniles nearby that were perched on the conifer tree that their natal nest was in and the sun was getting close to setting. Sometimes I wish I could "speak" raptor so I could know what they are saying.
This image of a Northern Harrier and a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk in an aerial dogfight over Antelope Island State Park was taken the day before the recent snow storm started that we had here in the Salt Lake Valley over the weekend.
Earlier this morning I spotted a Prairie Falcon perched on a rock while on the Antelope Island Causeway, before we could get stopped and into position to photograph the falcon it took off over the water and attacked a Northern Shoveler.
This juvenile Red-tailed Hawk was concentrating on some thing on the ground when I photographed it.
I went out into the west desert of Utah this morning hoping to take images of the raptors I thought I would find there to do a post on but some days though the birds are few and those that you find just aren't cooperative
Since I began photographing birds in Florida I have gotten used to getting wet to photograph shorebirds, wringing wet at times but my gear has never been as wet as it was the day I took these images from inside the pickup.
I know that falconry birds and rehabbed raptors can be used as excellent tools in educating the public, I've been impressed with them myself. But there is a risk for falconry birds that escape and that still have jesses or anklets attached and that fact worries me.
Last winter was awesome for seeing Rough-legged Hawks and I am hoping they had another great breeding season and that they will show up here in large numbers to over winter.
I had another great day with juvenile Red-tailed Hawks on Antelope Island State Park last week.
One foggy morning last December I spotted this juvenile Prairie Falcon (Falco mexicanus) perched on a frost-covered rock on the causeway to Antelope Island SP with the Great Salt Lake in the background.
These juvenile Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) images were taken on two consecutive days last week. I'm always excited to have a bird in my view finder and when I can photograph hawks for two days in a row... I feel raptor rapture.