birds of prey

Rufous Morph Red-tailed Hawk Taking Flight Photos

By |March 22nd, 2019|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

By the time I took this next image in the series the Red-tailed Hawk had straightened her legs, her wings were high over her body and she was pushing off from the rock.

Nesting Red-tailed Hawks – Plus Guidelines On Photographing Nesting Birds

By |March 17th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I'm happy to see that the rufous female Red-tailed Hawk does have a mate and that they are building a nest to raise their young in, I hope they are successful.

One Stunning Rufous Red-tailed Hawk – How Finding It Saved My Day

By |March 13th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

If I hadn't found and pointed out this stunning rufous Red-tailed Hawk yesterday morning I would have basically come home without a single decent image of a bird.

Adult Bald Eagle at Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge

By |March 10th, 2019|Categories: Bald Eagles, Birds, Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, Juab County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

One of my trips out to Fish Springs NWR happened during this time of the year and while I was there so was a gorgeous adult Bald Eagle that perched in the trees near the picnic area not too far from the refuge headquarters.

Back View Of An Immature Female Northern Harrier Hovering

By |February 24th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Would you be able to ID this hawk from just this image or similar view of it in the field if I hadn't already identified it in my title and my photo caption?

Winter American Barn Owls In Flight During Daylight Are Hungry

By |February 23rd, 2019|Categories: American Barn Owls, Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I always feel fortunate when I am able to photograph winter Barn Owls in flight during daylight hours but that means that these gorgeous owls are struggling to stay alive and that is a concern for me.

Rough-legged Hawk Expelling A Pellet Close Up Photos

By |February 20th, 2019|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I've never been this close to a Rough-legged Hawk expelling a pellet before and it is likely that I will never be this fortunate again. This Rough-legged Hawk was my best bird for the day and I'm glad I stopped and waited for him to expel the pellet before moving on down the auto tour route.

Rough-legged Hawk Photographed On Christmas Eve Day 2013

By |December 24th, 2018|Categories: Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

After looking through all of those images I decided to share a photo today of an immature Rough-legged Hawk perched on a waterfowl rest area sign taken at Farmington Bay WMA on Christmas Eve day in 2013.

Focusing On A Rousing Short-eared Owl Adult Male

By |December 19th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Short-eared Owls, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

This adult male Short-eared Owl was perched on a weathered fence post not far from the road when I photographed it rousing and I loved the way it seemed to be looking right as me as it shook its feathers.

Cooper’s Hawk & European Starling Encounter

By |December 10th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Cooper’s Hawks, European Starlings, Lee Kay Ponds, Morgan County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Then the noise suddenly stopped and I saw the silhouette of a European Starling fly out of the tree with the Cooper's Hawk hot on its tail, literally.

Portrait Of A First Spring Male Northern Harrier In Northern Utah

By |November 28th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

It isn't often that I am able to be close enough to a Northern Harrier to take a portrait of one, in fact I can only think of one time that I've been that fortunate and that was in May of 2016.

Peek-a-boo Rough-legged Hawk At Farmington Bay WMA

By |November 27th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Hawks, Eagles, Ospreys and Vultures, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Why did it make me laugh and smile? Because it looks like the Rough-legged Hawk might have been playing peek-a-boo as it looked towards me through its wingtips.

Immature Red-tailed Hawk at East Canyon State Park

By |November 6th, 2018|Categories: Birds, East Canyon State Park, Hawks, Eagles, Ospreys and Vultures, Morgan County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

I was able to photograph two immature Red-tailed Hawks at East Canyon State Park and the photos I am sharing today are of the first one that I found.

Red-tailed Hawk In Morning Light – Wasatch Mountains In The Shadows

By |November 4th, 2018|Categories: Birds, East Canyon, Morgan County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday morning for a few moments I had one of those opportunities with a Red-tailed Hawk perched on top of some trees in East Canyon where the mountains in the background where still in the shadows and because of that the bird seemed to glow.

Male American Kestrel Turning In Flight – Small In The Frame

By |October 30th, 2018|Categories: American Kestrels, Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

While I would have enjoyed having this male American Kestrel closer to me as it turned in flight than it was yesterday morning I found that I liked this frame with the tiny falcon turning in flight being small in the frame too.

Immature Red-tailed Hawk In Flight With The Colors Of Autumn

By |October 26th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

The more I have looked at this image over the past year the more I liked it for the flight pose, the look at the Red-tailed Hawk's plumage colors against those yellow leaves and somehow the poor lighting conditions became less significant to my eyes.

Late Summer Juvenile Cooper’s Hawk With The Colors Of Fall

By |September 6th, 2018|Categories: Cooper’s Hawks, Little Dutch Hollow, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I know, I could grumble about not being able to photograph the young Cooper's Hawk taking its prey down just feet away from my Jeep but you know what? Being there to see nature in action was enough for me.

Sibling Red-tailed Hawk Juveniles Perched & On The Wing

By |July 17th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Back in March of this year I started watching and photographing a pair of Red-tailed Hawks in the process of building their nest on the face of a high cliff, these two juveniles are the results of the hard work of that pair of hawks.

Sagebrush Country & Short-eared Owls

By |June 15th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Short-eared Owls, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I see and photograph Short-eared Owls in Sagebrush Country quite often. I spend a lot of time in areas where there is sagebrush dotting the desert, steppes and hillsides here in Utah and I find these amazing owls there.

Photographing Turkey Vultures On A June Morning

By |June 13th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Turkey Vultures, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

As a bird photographer I have found that it is easy to make any species of owl look interesting and appealing in my images but it is more of a challenge to do that with Turkey Vultures but that doesn't mean I don't try. I will always try.

Male Short-eared Owl Showing His Ear Tufts

By |May 10th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Short-eared Owls, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Most often I see the ear tufts of Short-eared Owls when they are on alert, when there is a wind blowing the tufts from behind the owl or when they appear curious about something they can see or hear.

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