Cooper’s Hawk – Nearly Hidden And In Plain Sight
Two days ago, while I was photographing some Rock Squirrels, I saw a beautiful immature Cooper's Hawk fly in and land in a tangle of trees near the squirrels.
Two days ago, while I was photographing some Rock Squirrels, I saw a beautiful immature Cooper's Hawk fly in and land in a tangle of trees near the squirrels.
On this Christmas morning, I am sharing a photo of a young female Northern Harrier in flight that I took exactly three years ago at Farmington Bay WMA.
Last week, I photographed an immature Pied-billed Grebe being chased by an adult at my local pond. I observed some other interesting grebe behaviors as well.
This photo of a frosty Northern Harrier was taken almost five years ago. Although the harrier is small in the frame, I still find the image visually appealing.
What's better than having one coot in my viewfinder? I'd say having three American Coots side by side in my viewfinder at one time!
My best bird photos from yesterday morning at Farmington Bay WMA were of an immature Red-tailed Hawk with the shadowed Wasatch Mountain slopes in the background.
Being in the right place at the right moment in time netted me these young Yellow-breasted Chat photos high in the Wasatch Mountains yesterday morning.
Yesterday morning I drove up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge where the second bird that I photographed was a young Killdeer in the early light of dawn.
This morning I am sharing two Black-throated Gray Warbler images that I took yesterday while exploring the canyons of sky island mountains in the West Desert.
Two days ago I spent just a few moments focused on a hatch year male Red-winged Blackbird perched in an Russian Olive tree near Glover Pond here in northern Utah.
Last winter I missed seeing overwintering Double-crested Cormorants at my local ponds and in other locations in northern Utah where I typically see them.
I was looking through my archives yesterday when I came across this immature Black-billed Magpie portrait taken at sunrise on Antelope Island State Park.
I selected this hatch year Great Blue Heron photo to share today because it showed the young bird taking a crap on the flats of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
I was thrilled to have an immature Common Yellowthroat out in the open and in my viewfinder two days ago high in the Wasatch Mountains.
I was looking through my older images and came across this one of a hatch year Spotted Sandpiper on some rocks at Bear River MBR.
Yesterday morning I was delighted to take a nice series of young MacGillivray's Warbler images not long after the sun lit up the willow thicket it was foraging in.
While Franklin's Gulls are in northern Utah for their breeding season brine flies are an important food source for the adults and their young and are a part of their breeding success here in the Great Basin.
Yesterday morning not long after sunrise I spent some time photographing a light morph, immature Ferruginous Hawk hunting for its breakfast.
I don't know how many times I have said "expect the unexpected" since I began photographing birds while talking to fellow photographers.
Spotted Towhees are among the most colorful members of the sparrow family and I always enjoy photographing them on those occasions when they are out in the open.
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.
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
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.
I don't have many decent photos of immature Turkey Vultures so when I spotted several of them 11 days ago in northern Utah I was excited but my hopes for good light on the hatch year birds were dashed by clouds.
There are times when one bird can make my day and yesterday that bird was an immature Red-tailed Hawk that I spotted just before heading home after a trip into the mountains that included fog and other challenges.
I spent 26 minutes yesterday photographing juvenile Red-tailed Hawk siblings and had a blast watching them preen, lift off, flying, scratching, resting and landing.
When this hatch year Yellow Warbler popped out into an open area of a willow thicket in a beam of sunlight I was happy to take its photo.
As a bird photographer I'm feeling a sense of urgency now that I didn't feel a few weeks ago because as I watch the migrants in the Wasatch Mountains getting ready for their long journeys I know that my time for photographing them this year is quickly running out.
This Orange-crowned Warbler was only in my viewfinder for about a minute but she gave me great views and quite a few different poses to photograph and I was delighted with the photos I took.
The Orange-crowned Warbler gave me quite a few different poses and I was happy to take photos of her and the Utah Serviceberry shrub while she moved around.