When the partially leucistic Red-tailed Hawk lifted off from the power pole I was able to capture photos of it in flight and I was stunned by the beauty of the hawk, pictures do not do this bird justice.
Maybe next time I up in the canyons I will get lucky and spot some of the Wild Turkeys that make their home in the Stansbury Mountains.
I didn't think I'd like this photo of a perched Red-tailed Hawk under gray, blustery skies but I do
The long-awaited Scrub-Jay split has officially happened! Western Scrub-Jay can be crossed out in a our fields guides and the two new names California Scrub-Jay and Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay can be penciled in.
When I took this image the juvenile Loggerhead Shrike was perched on a dead twig when the robber fly flew into the frame, the shrike took off after the fly and caught it in mid air.
Looking back over the last 20 years of my life I can see many times where I threw off the bowlines and sailed away from safe harbor.
This West Desert Horned Lark in golden light was taken in the foothills of the Stansbury Mountains of Tooele County on a clear morning last month.
It has been a while since I photographed this Short-eared Owl in Tooele County at the James W. Fitzgerald WMA
There were a number of yearlings in the herd including this Mule Deer yearling that was on a slight ridge who appeared to be looking right at me.
Seeing these uncommon Western Bluebirds in Tooele County in the Stansbury Mountain Range yesterday is part of why I love bird photography so much.
A couple Woodhouse's Scrub-Jays in Ophir Canyon Road in Tooele County were the most cooperative of the jays that I found.
This adult Sage Thrasher with prey was photographed on public lands in Tooele County in one of the canyons of the Stansbury Mountains last July.
Yesterday while up in one of the canyons of the Stansbury Mountains some movement caught my eye and when I looked closely I could see a small flock of Wild Turkeys in the junipers.
I went wandering in the West Desert of Utah yesterday because the views are always great and because I hoped to find a few birds.
When I spotted this Mourning Dove perched on an old fence post in the morning light I couldn't resist photographing it.
Yesterday was a delight in the West Desert because there were plentiful birds to photograph including this male Spotted Towhee singing on its territory.
Yesterday while looking for birds to photograph I was enchanted by this Mercur Canyon Mountain Bluebird male while in Tooele County, Utah.
I too have nestled lovingly into this world and climbed its mountains, roamed its forests and sailed its waters.
I had such a marvelous time photographing the Onaqui herd in May that I just had to share more images from the day with the wild horses.
I checked one of the items off of my bucket list yesterday morning when I spent time photographing, observing and being surrounded by a herd of wild Horses.
Yesterday I was able to see and photograph a pair of Red-tailed Hawks courting and copulating in Tooele County, Utah.
Seeing the tail end... of 2013 on this last day of December.
Ferruginous Hawks are the largest hawk in North America which are only found in Canada and the United States and recent DNA analysis suggests that Ferruginous Hawks may be closer to Eagles in taxonomy than that of a hawk.
In the West Desert of Utah there are a few places in Tooele County I can almost be sure to find Horned Larks warming themselves in the morning light on rocks and boulders.
Yesterday while in the West Desert in Tooele County the cirrus clouds appealed to me that fanned out over the Stansbury Mountains.
The Prickly Poppy is well named because the leaves and flower stems do have spines on them.
Last week while photographing in a canyon in the Stansbury Mountains in Tooele County, Utah I spotted this Turkey Vulture roosting in a dead tree in morning light.
I love the raised wings of the Ferruginous Hawk, the bright blue sky with just a hint of clouds and the regal raptor soaring above me and the Stansbury Mountains in Tooele County, Utah
Buteos are medium to large hawks with broad wings, wide bodies and short tails that soar in wide lazy circles and most often hunt from a high perch from which they drop down to their prey.
These are but a few of the birds I photographed this week in various Utah locations and all of them made great subjects!