Cinnamon Teal, Short-eared Owl & Red-Tailed Hawk – A Nice Mixture of Birds

Male Cinnamon Teal shaking his feathers in a pond – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/600, ISO 400, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

It was cool, bright and sunny yesterday morning in northern Utah with just a few fluffy clouds hanging over the mountain tops. The light was gorgeous when I photographed this male Cinnamon Teal shaking his feathers on a small pond , it really showed off the deep cinnamon colors of his plumage and his red eye. There were three teals on the pond, one female and two males, and the males chased each other around in front of the female until one finally flew off.

Sleepy Short-eared Owl male – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1600, ISO 400, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited

My best find of the day was when I spotted a nearly hidden, sleepy looking Short-eared Owl male on a hill in the grass with sagebrush behind him. The owl appeared to be just enjoying the warmth of the rising sun while sitting on the ground. I had to photograph him through the grids of a fence but the fence seemed to disappear because it was so far away from the owl that it is just a slight, nearly unnoticeable blur in my images.

I also saw two other Short-eared Owl males in flight but they were too far away to photograph, this male was the only one I could get photos of yesterday.

Red-tailed Hawk flying in front of a rock face – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited

I also saw several Red-tailed Hawks and I was able to photograph this one in flight as it flew past a rock face near the road. The hawk was flying into the north wind when it went past the rock.

It felt great to photograph a nice mixture of birds yesterday and and to be out enjoying the beautiful scenery of northern Utah.

Life is good.

Mia