Hawks of Utah

Searching For Rough-legged Hawks

By |2021-03-03T07:23:36-06:00October 28th, 2019|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Davis County, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

It is currently the time of the year when I start looking for Rough-legged Hawks in northern Utah, the temps have dipped below freezing, there has been frost on the ground and now we've had our first snow.

Reasons Why We May Be Seeing Fewer Northern Harriers At Farmington Bay

By |2021-06-19T03:54:27-05:00October 25th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I don't see nearly as many harriers over the marshes at Farmington Bay as I used to five to ten years ago but the marshes have changed some since I moved to northern Utah.

Autumn Colors With An Immature Red-tailed Hawk In The Wasatch Mountains

By |2022-10-02T06:01:10-05:00October 3rd, 2019|Categories: Birds, Red-tailed Hawks, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

I have to wonder though how many people walked or drove right past this young Red-tailed Hawk and never noticed that it was even there

Photographing A Cooperative Immature Cooper’s Hawk

By |2024-03-16T14:22:18-05:00October 1st, 2019|Categories: Birds, Cooper’s Hawks, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I couldn't have asked for a better birdy subject yesterday morning than this relaxed and cooperative immature Cooper's Hawk and I loved the setting it was in too.

Hatch Year Cooper’s Hawk Resting In Sagebrush

By |2024-03-16T13:00:10-05:00September 23rd, 2019|Categories: Birds, Cooper’s Hawks, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Spotting this immature Cooper's Hawk resting in sagebrush yesterday was the highlight of my morning and even though the setting is messy I like that it shows this young hawk in the habitat this species can be found in.  

Ferruginous Hawk Lightening Its Load Before Lift Off

By |2021-09-23T09:38:53-05:00September 17th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Ferruginous Hawks, Tooele County, Utah, weather, West Desert|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I don't see nearly as many Ferruginous Hawks as I would like to so I am always glad when I have one in my viewfinder that I can photograph even if it is taking a dump.

Rough-legged Hawk On A Snowy Day At Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

By |2021-11-06T07:15:34-05:00September 14th, 2019|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I didn't see or photograph as many Rough-legged Hawks last winter as I have in previous years but I did have a close up, extraordinary experience with one who was expelling a pellet on a snowy, foggy day at Bear River MBR.

An Immature Red-tailed Hawk On A Foggy Morning In The Mountains

By |2021-05-03T03:18:41-05:00September 13th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Red-tailed Hawks, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

There are times when one bird can make my day and yesterday that bird was an immature Red-tailed Hawk that I spotted just before heading home after a trip into the mountains that included fog and other challenges.

Immature Swainson’s Hawk, Golden Light And Common Sunflowers

By |2021-05-16T06:14:14-05:00September 6th, 2019|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Swainson's Hawks, Utah, Wildflowers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Two days ago I was able to photograph an immature Swainson's Hawk in golden light perched on a fence post that was surrounded by bright yellow common sunflowers. Yes, I was blissed out.

Photographing Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk Siblings

By |2023-05-05T10:17:28-05:00August 31st, 2019|Categories: Birds, Red-tailed Hawks, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I spent 26 minutes yesterday photographing juvenile Red-tailed Hawk siblings and had a blast watching them preen, lift off, flying, scratching, resting and landing.

Red-tailed Hawk Behavior When A Northern Harrier Attacks

By |2024-04-04T05:25:56-05:00May 6th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

When I heard a call to my left I glanced in that direction and saw a female Northern Harrier flying towards the Red-tailed at break neck speed.

Male Red-tailed Hawk Resting On A Desert Cliff

By |2021-03-22T10:26:06-05:00April 28th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The best bird I spotted that I could photograph was a male Red-tailed Hawk resting on a cliff face and what I loved about this photo was all the grasses, lichen, wildflowers and the sage high up on the cliff.

Staring Dark Morph Swainson’s Hawk Close Up

By |2021-03-31T05:57:31-05:00April 4th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I've shared photos of this gorgeous dark morph Swainson's Hawk before and I've written about how I believed it was the darkest, dark morph I had ever seen and to date that still holds true.

More Photos Of The Rufous Red-tailed Hawk Female

By |2024-04-02T11:20:17-05:00April 1st, 2019|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I had a great time photographing this beautiful rufous Red-tailed Hawk yesterday morning and I'm glad I had good light when I did.

Rufous Morph Red-tailed Hawk Taking Flight Photos

By |2021-01-28T15:15:01-06:00March 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 |2023-03-05T04:24:56-06:00March 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 |2023-12-11T02:49:40-06:00March 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.

Back View Of An Immature Female Northern Harrier Hovering

By |2024-02-21T15:14:32-06:00February 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?

Rough-legged Hawk Expelling A Pellet Close Up Photos

By |2021-11-06T07:42:49-05:00February 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.

Eye Level With A Rough-legged Hawk Carrying Prey

By |2024-01-24T05:41:01-06:00January 13th, 2019|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Being at eye level with this Rough-legged Hawk carrying prey along the causeway to Antelope Island is an experience I won't soon forget.

Rough-legged Hawk Photographed On Christmas Eve Day 2013

By |2021-02-06T10:28:04-06:00December 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.

Winter Ferruginous Hawk Lift Off And Flight Series

By |2021-09-23T07:24:57-05:00December 16th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Ferruginous Hawks, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I was able to photograph two Ferruginous Hawks yesterday morning in the West Desert in Tooele County. The light was good, I had birds in my viewfinder and I was away from our building inversion so I was one happy woman.

Cooper’s Hawk & European Starling Encounter

By |2024-03-16T12:48:46-05:00December 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 |2021-04-10T07:31:43-05:00November 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.

Immature Red-tailed Hawk at East Canyon State Park

By |2021-05-03T03:31:23-05:00November 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 |2023-09-28T05:35:34-05:00November 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.

Sub-adult Swainson’s Hawk in Northern Utah

By |2021-03-31T05:52:44-05:00October 29th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

By this time of the year Swainson's Hawks have left Utah and headed towards South America to their wintering grounds but the memories I have of the hawks never leave me.

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

By |2023-09-28T05:39:19-05:00October 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.

Go to Top