Juvenile Burrowing Owl Portrait
Burrowing Owls are beautiful birds with lemony yellow eyes, downy soft feathers and subtle coloration. It's hard to believe that they aren't that much different in size from an American Robin.
Burrowing Owls are beautiful birds with lemony yellow eyes, downy soft feathers and subtle coloration. It's hard to believe that they aren't that much different in size from an American Robin.
Horned Larks and Western Meadowlarks are birds that I enjoy photographing all year long in Utah and yesterday they gave me some wonderful opportunities.
Last week I posted some fun images of a Coyote with Falcon leftovers taken along the shoreline of the Great Salt Lake with piles of ice in the background. Six days later, on January 1st, I had more fun with a Coyote in almost the same location.
American Kestrels hold a special interest for me, they are North America's smallest falcon but what they lack in size they make up for in attitude. These falcons can be fiesty.
I had a marvelous photographic experience with Coyote with falcon leftovers along the shoreline of the Great Salt Lake last week.
White-crowned Sparrows can be seen foraging in the grasses, rabbitbrush and sagebrush that grow along the edge of the road.
Last week while out photographing I spotted a Prairie Falcon in the midst of a tussle with two Common Ravens in mid air. At times it seemed that the falcon was chasing the ravens and then the tables would turn and it appeared that the ravens were diving at the falcon.
Today I had the pleasure of photographing with not just one but two wonderful friends and fellow photographers. To be sure they are much more "fellow" than I am but I don't hold that against them.
Many of my regular readers probably know that I have been having a great time the past month photographing Rough-legged Hawks and Prairie Falcons so I selected an image of a Prairie Falcon to post for my Friday Photos today.
To those hunters who recognized and respected the rarity of those beautiful and very uncommon birds, you have my respect and I am personally very grateful that you preferred to give these ducks a pass even though you knew that hunting them was legal.
I can relate to the hawk in a way, just like it doesn't always get the prey it is intent on, I don't always get the shots I want.
I'm excited that two Great Horned Owls are using the same roosting location on Antelope Island.
Last week though I had the opportunity to photograph a very cooperative Rough-legged Hawk preening.
I adore Burrowing Owls, especially the juveniles because they can be funny, serious looking, comical and at times they act like clowns.
I have been very pleased to add so many images of Rough-legged Hawks to my portfolio in just the past week and hopefully these Roughies will stick around until late February of next year so there will be many more opportunities.
Wow, two nemesis birds photographed in a week, this Prairie Falcon was amazing. I'll be grinning (and dancing) about this for quite awhile!
Eureka! The Rough-legged Hawks are back from their high subarctic and Arctic breeding grounds and they seem to be showing up in larger numbers than I have seen them since I moved to Utah.
My favorite name for Great Horned Owls is "The Tiger of the Sky" and it is very descriptive of this large, fierce owl.
Ravens hold a special place in my heart because they are smart (actually brilliant for birds), collectors of things shiny and/or odd, they let you know about their presence with hoarse croaking sounds and they are very amusing to observe and photograph.
I have learned that you have to be prepared to be a bird photographer and additionally that you need to be fast because birds are free moving creatures. There are times that you simply don't or won't have time to change your camera's settings.
I used to dream about getting images like this one of Pronghorns when all I had was a simple Point & Shoot camera and I could never get close enough to the pronghorns to achieve my dreams. Now I can.
Photographing birds during Autumn is a wonderful time for me in Utah, the beautiful fall colors delight and enthrall me, the air gets nippy and I find myself feeling a surge of energy whenever I am outdoors.
Last month I spotted this Coyote in the golden light of dawn while it hunted in the grasses on Antelope Island State Park. With light so sweet, how could I resist?
Yesterday I came across this very cooperative male Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris). This male bird preened for a full seven minutes and I took 256 images of it.
This October 3rd I spotted this pronghorn for the third or fourth time in this past year only this time I had good light, the buck wasn't far away and because it is rut season he was only paying attention to the does and other bucks in the area.
Earlier this year in March I wrote an article titled "Burrowing Owls - Loved to Death?" and this post is a sequel to it.
Coyotes and wolves help to cull out the sick and weak animals in herds of deer, antelope and elk which in turn can help to keep those herds in better health
A few days ago I had the opportunity to take images of California Gulls feeding on brine flies along shoreline of the Great Salt Lake next to the causeway to Antelope Island
As much as I love going to Antelope Island State Park to photograph birds I also enjoy going there to see and photograph the furry animals that can be found there.
This is probably one of the moments where the juvenile Burrowing Owl looked more serious than at other times.