Juvenile White-crowned Sparrow In A Snow Storm
The White-crowned Sparrow in this image is small in the frame, the bird isn't super sharp and there isn't a lot of contrast or color to the photo either yet the image speaks to me.
More on Escaped Falconry Birds
Throughout these three experiences in finding escaped falconry birds what I have learned is that falconry is for experts not for people who just think it is cool to have a pet raptor.
Western Meadowlark Lift Off
This Western Meadowlark image was taken last month on Antelope Island State Park. I meant to post it earlier but forgot because I got so busy trying to set up my new computer. Life outside of bird photography does get in the way at times.
Male American Kestrel Lifting Off
There is something about American Kestrels that speaks to me. They might be our smallest falcon in North America but they have big attitudes, fierce characters and are terrific hunters.
Male Ring-necked Pheasant in marsh habitat
Ring-necked Pheasants are colorful upland game birds that are native to Asia and were introduced into North America for recreational hunting purposes and now occur widespread across southern Canada and in many areas of the U.S. except for some of the southern states.
Female Northern Harrier in flight
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.
Hatch Year Red-tailed Hawk
I recall that when I first started photographing the juvenile Red-tailed Hawks in this area back in August that they missed their prey more times than they would capture it and now they seem to have gone the other way, they are catching the prey more than they are missing it.
Adult Prairie Falcon With A Full Crop
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
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
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.
Fluffed Up Western Meadowlark
This Western Meadowlark was a cooperative subject yesterday morning and allowed a close enough approach to get some frame filling images.
Bison bull in front of the Wasatch Mountain Range
I'm pleased with this bison image because it contains so many icons of the western U.S., the bison grazing on prairie grasses, the Great Salt Lake and a mountain range in the background.
Male Common Merganser in nonbreeding plumage
Last week I saw quite a few Common Mergansers at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge but I wasn't able to get close enough to them to get any quality images but they reminded me of images I had been able to take of Common Mergansers several years ago at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area.
Coyotes – The Song Dog
Not long after arriving at Antelope Island yesterday I heard the sound of Coyotes singing, it is a sound that always brings a smile to my lips and delights me.
Burrowing Owl Surprise
There are Burrowing Owls on Antelope Island; I've photographed them hundreds of times, but yesterday I spotted one in a location I had never seen one before.
Snow Geese
I was tickled to get these images and the others I created of these two Snow Geese yesterday, especially since they were close.
Northern Harrier Chasing A Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk
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.
Coyote In The Snow
While looking for birds to photograph I spotted a pair of Coyotes hunting and roaming through the snow-covered landscape together.
Prairie Falcon with a Northern Shoveler as prey (Graphic)
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.
Birds And Mammals From The Past Week
Just a few images from this past week.
The Horns of Pronghorns
The horns of Pronghorns are composed of a permanent slender, laterally flattened blade of bone that is covered by a keratinous sheath.
Chukar In The Snow
A simple image from a series of images I took last year of a Chukar calling on a rocky outcropping with a snowy mountain in the background.
An Estimated 400,000 Coyotes Are Killed A Year
For anyone interested in Coyote hunting reading this post you won't find any help as to where, when or how to do that on this blog, when I write about Coyote hunting is it about a Coyote HUNTING for its food. Got it?
Juvenile White-crowned Sparrow – Shades of October
Just a simple image today of a juvenile White-crowned Sparrow with a pumpkin patch in the background as the month of October comes to an end.
Pumpkin Patch Birds – Red-winged Blackbirds and White-crowned Sparrows
There is a rather large Pumpkin Patch near the road going to the Nature Center at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area where I like to photograph birds. They have a straw maze and all kinds of activities for children too.
Winter’s First Snow
As I write this the first snow of winter is falling outside my living room window. For the past week I have seen the snow on the mountain tops and I had been looking forward to seeing the snow covering the Salt Lake Valley.
Rare Sight to See – Walking And Standing Pied-billed Grebes
It was an unusual experience to see these Pied-billed Grebes standing upright and walking on the edge of this pond, some might even consider it rare.
Juvenile White-crowned Sparrow In Early Morning Light
Although White-crowned Sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys) are year round residents in Utah I see far more of them in the fall, winter and early spring and because it is cold they also are "stickier" and allow closer approaches.
One year ago today – Brewer’s Blackbird
One year ago today it was slow on Antelope Island, not many birds were close enough to photograph but on the way home I spotted this female Brewer's Blackbird on some rocks near one of the bridges on the causeway to the island.
Escaped Falconry Birds – Peregrine Falcon and American Kestrel
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.