On The Lookout For Rough-Legged Hawks
I'm hoping that this week I'll be able to spot my first of the season Rough-legged Hawks and that I'll be able to get photos of them too. Fingers are crossed!
I'm hoping that this week I'll be able to spot my first of the season Rough-legged Hawks and that I'll be able to get photos of them too. Fingers are crossed!
I'm not sure why I like this Bald Eagle image as much as I do but I do know that while I am looking at it I feel calm.
The past couple of weeks on some of my journeys to the West Desert of Utah I have been able to have a few long distance views of Ferruginous Hawks and that has me excited.
I spent sometime at Farmington Bay WMA yesterday morning where my best bird of the day was an immature Red-tailed Hawk resting in a tree.
I don't know how many times I have said "expect the unexpected" since I began photographing birds while talking to fellow photographers.
I noticed immediately that the Red-tailed Hawk was on prey because I saw it tearing into something despite the grasses that were partially obstructing my view.
I don't usually share photos where the main subject is facing away from me but I liked the alert pose of this raptor as it perched in the dead but distant juniper tree.
The first bird I photographed yesterday morning was an immature Cooper's Hawk that I found because I spotted a Red-tailed Hawk on a cliff face that the young accipiter decided to harass.
I had a great time photographing three recently fledged Red-tailed Hawks from two different nests in northern Utah yesterday morning.
In April there was a bright, sunny morning when I had several opportunities to photograph adult Turkey Vultures warming up after a chilly night by thermoregulating.
This adult male Swainson's Hawk was perched near his nest in a light rain and although he looked soaking wet that didn't appear to bother him much at all.
Mornings have still been fairly chilly here in northern Utah and the Turkey Vultures that recently arrived on spring migration have been taking advantage of the rising sun by thermoregulating to help chase off the chill.
These are the life stages of the Swainson's Hawks I see, observe and photograph here in Utah, Idaho and Montana.
The female Red-tailed Hawk blended into the lichen covered cliff face so well that even with my sharp eyesight I didn't see her until the male landed next to her.
In the event that our governor does force us into a total lock down I have enough images that I haven't shared here on my blog that I could post everyday for a year and still not run out of photos.
I took eighty-four images of the Bald Eagle pair mating on the frozen reservoir and the entire time the magpie stood on the ice close to them.
The memories of photographing this Turkey Vulture that spring morning have made me feel excited because these vultures are heading north now and soon I will have them in my viewfinder again.
The adult female Northern Harrier was in flight in wonderful, warm morning light and I couldn't resist raising my lens and taking photos of her as she flew past.
It is almost time for me to see a seasonal switch of raptors here in northern Utah because the Rough-legged Hawks will leaving and the Swainson's will arrive soon.
I did find a sub-adult Bald Eagle resting on the ice on the last leg of the refuge loop and even though it was at a distance I wanted to photograph it because of the marshy habitat it was in.
I came across this adult Red-shouldered Hawk while walking around at John Chesnut Sr. Park in Florida way back in January of 2009.
Three days ago I photographed an adult Bald Eagle resting on the frost-covered, icy marsh at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in northern Utah.
No matter how these Golden Eagle photos came to be I am happy to have photographed this magnificent bird on the wing.
For me this female Northern Harrier and the immature harrier in the other photo are a classic examples of what I like to call a hidden treasure type of image.
On the first of February when I found and photographed an unusual and distinctive Bald Eagle with leucism I also photographed two more immature eagles in the same area.
Yesterday morning I spent some time up in the Wasatch Mountains and I am so glad that I did because I found a second winter Bald Eagle with leucism.
I keep wondering if I will see this big, gorgeous, rufous Red-tailed Hawk female in my viewfinder again this year.
When I spotted an adult Red-tailed Hawk on one of the pieces of rusty machinery two days ago on my way home from the auto tour route at the refuge I knew I had to get some photos of it.
I could wish that there weren't any branches in front of the hawk but honestly it just felt good to not have something happen to ruin my opportunity to photograph this Rough-legged Hawk.
Knowing what kind of habitat Ferruginous Hawks prefer during all four seasons here in northern Utah can increase the chances of finding them year round.