raptors

Tale Of A Red-tailed Hawk

By |April 26th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Red-tailed Hawks, Tooele County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

I have Montana’s birds on my mind

By |April 14th, 2013|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, Red-tailed Hawks, Sandhill Cranes, Swainson's Hawks|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk Learning To Hunt

By |April 7th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Pinellas County, Red-shouldered Hawks, Sawgrass Lake Park|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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".

Weird Canada Geese behavior and a Red-tailed Hawk building a nest

By |March 16th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Canada Geese, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Four Year Old Bald Eagle Eating A Fish

By |March 15th, 2013|Categories: Bald Eagles, Birds, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Some of the Birds I Love at Bear River National Wildlife Refuge

By |February 6th, 2013|Categories: American Avocets, American Barn Owls, American White Pelicans, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Black-crowned Night Herons, Black-necked Stilts, Box Elder County, Duck hybrids, Eastern Kingbirds, Forster's Terns, Marsh Wrens, Snowy Egrets, Swainson's Hawks, Tundra Swans, Utah, Western Grebes, Western Kingbirds, Yellow-headed Blackbirds|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Immature Red-tailed, Rough-legged, Ferruginous and Swainson’s Hawks

By |January 27th, 2013|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Davis County, Ferruginous Hawks, Montana, Red-tailed Hawks, Rough-legged Hawks, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Red-shouldered Hawk Juvenile – Small In The Frame

By |January 25th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Red-shouldered Hawks, Sawgrass Lake Park, Small in the frame|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Harlan’s Hawk juvenile with an American Coot (Graphic)

By |January 23rd, 2013|Categories: American Coots, Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Harlan's Hawk, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Some fun with birds from yesterday

By |January 19th, 2013|Categories: American Barn Owls, Antelope Island State Park, Black-crowned Night Herons, Chukars, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Great Blue Herons, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

A wonderful fun-filled day with great companionship and plenty of birds. I can't ask for more.

A Golden Eagle that was TOO close

By |January 13th, 2013|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Golden Eagles, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Female Northern Harrier in flight

By |December 13th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Adult Prairie Falcon With A Full Crop

By |December 8th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Prairie Falcons, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Photographing Red-tailed Hawk Juveniles On The Wing

By |December 4th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

These are a just few images that I have edited taken since August of Red-tailed Hawk juveniles on Antelope Island State Park.

Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk

By |December 1st, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Swainson’s Hawk in the Centennial Valley of Montana

By |November 17th, 2012|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Swainson's Hawks|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Northern Harrier chasing a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk

By |November 14th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Northern Harriers, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Prairie Falcon with a Northern Shoveler as prey (Graphic)

By |November 11th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Prairie Falcons, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk – From lift off to flight

By |November 3rd, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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

Hail Yeah – Storm at Red Rock Lakes Dam

By |October 28th, 2012|Categories: American Avocets, Beaverhead County, Birds, Montana, Peregrine Falcons, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Wilson's Phalaropes|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Escaped Falconry Birds – Peregrine Falcon and American Kestrel

By |October 16th, 2012|Categories: American Kestrels, Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Peregrine Falcons, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

More Raptor Rapture – Red-tailed Hawk Juvenile

By |September 9th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

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