Northern Harrier in flight
Just an image I took yesterday of this male Northern Harrier in flight. As simple as the image is I like the great eye contact it has.
Just an image I took yesterday of this male Northern Harrier in flight. As simple as the image is I like the great eye contact it has.
Not far from where I live there is a small pond where I photographed this American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) just after it had lifted off from the water two springs ago.
This California Gull in flight was being buffeted by the wind, I had trouble keeping my lens steady because of it too.
I have had an amazing time photographing Prairie Falcons (Falco mexicanus) since last fall. Since the ducks are no longer near the causeway to Antelope Island I have had a more difficult time locating them because they are now searching for their normal winter diet of Western Meadowlarks and Horned Larks which are found more "inland" on the island.
Certain species of birds ride on the backs of Bison and feed on the insects they find in the Bison's fur; European Starlings are among those birds.
Last year while I was camping and photographing at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge I saw a feeding frenzy that involved Franklin's and California Gulls in the flooded grasses and Sagebrush flats near the Lower Lake.
This is the third consecutive year that I have photographed Black-billed Magpies working on their nest in this same location on Antelope Island.
I have had such amazing experiences with Rough-legged Hawks this winter. I've captured them in flight, preening, eating, hovering, kiting, resting and so much more.
Ravens have always appealed to me even though some people might consider them "plain black birds". One of the reason I like them so much is that they are very smart and among the most intelligent birds in the world.
This female Northern Harrier was coursing along a road in search of prey and gave me great views of her pale yellow eye and bold barring under her wings.
There aren't many people in the west desert of Utah thus the raptors and other birds that live there are not habituated to people so they are very skittish even when using a mobile blind.
The weather outside hasn't been good for bird photography today but since I am always behind on editing I thought I'd process this Red-breasted Merganser image that I took in Florida a few years ago.
This Northern Harrier displayed interesting behavior, it didn't appear to be hunting but it would dive into the vegetation where it would make a sound that reminded me of parrots chattering.
These images are from an afternoon just like that when I happened to find and point out a lovely Rough-legged Hawk on a breezy day.
As 2011 comes to a close and 2012 is just hours away , I wanted to do one more blog post for the year.
During the summer months I don't often see Bald Eagles unless I go up into the high country or travel north of Utah to Idaho, Wyoming or Montana but in the Salt Lake Valley many Bald Eagles come in to spend the winter.
It seems that people either love high key images or they hate them. Personally; I believe that when a high key image is done well that they can be very appealing and have a place for them in my portfolio.
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.
Ferruginous Hawks are the largest hawks found in North America, the "regalis" in the latin name means "kingly" or "regal" and I have to agree with those descriptions.
I could always tell when a flock of Black Skimmers were flying in to Fort De Soto's north beach when I was photographing there because I could usually hear their soft, nasal barking yips or yeps before I saw them.
It didn't take long for me to check my ISO, my aperture and other techs as I dropped onto my knees before laying flat on my belly to photograph the flock of 20 or so Whimbrels.
Yesterday I observed an adult Willet defending its young from a group of Black-billed Magpies that were near the Willet's chicks.
The juvenile Long-billed Curlew was foraging and preening in the vegetation on the ground below the adult perched on the boulder
Soon after that I saw the shape of a larger bird near where the Coyote had gone into the sagebrush which turned out to be an adult Short-eared Owl.
I had a delightful experience this past week in northern Utah with an American Barn Owl that was flying along side the road that I was traveling on.
Male American Kestrel in flight with a vole chased off by an appraoching vehicle
Brown Pelicans feed by diving head first into the water to trap fish in the pouches of their bills.
I've found Bald Eagles difficult to approach most of the time which is why a long lens is often needed. But not this one year old bald eagle.
This morning when we had almost reached Antelope Island I spotted a huge flock of Northern Shovelers blasting off from the water
Taking the time to review my "bad images" strengthens me as a photographer.