Swainson’s Hawk Landing on the Rocks in Box Elder County
Five days ago I photographed this male Swainson's Hawk landing with his talons reaching out for the lichen covered rocks he was going to perch on.
Five days ago I photographed this male Swainson's Hawk landing with his talons reaching out for the lichen covered rocks he was going to perch on.
So just as I focus on the on the bird he decides to defecate in flight and my image shows the Northern Harrier in a post-defecation pose.
I am not sure why the Red-tailed Hawk lifted off with nesting material in its bill from the nest, maybe the hawk felt that piece of nesting material wasn't suitable.
This banking Red-tailed Hawk is one of the pair that are busy building their nest and making nearby forays to find nesting materials.
This Swainson's Hawk was right next to the road the entire time I photographed it and I was able to get a series of it it where the hawk nearly filled the frame from top to bottom.
I was able to take quite a few images of a very cooperative first spring Northern Harrier that was perched on an old post next to the road in Box Elder County.
At the end of January there was a nice, clear morning at Farmington Bay WMA and I spotted a juvenile female Northern Harrier in a field of snow next to the road who was a cooperative subject.
It isn't every day that I have the opportunity to photograph an American Kestrel attacking a Red-tailed Hawk in the air, in fact this would have been my best opportunity.
I did spot a juvenile Northern Harrier in the fog resting on a clump of vegetation in the snow covered field on the east side of the road and took a few images of it.
I spent a little bit of time yesterday morning photographing a few birds including this Northern Harrier in flight over Farmington Bay WMA.
Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge is a winter wonderland right now and although it is very quiet it is still teeming with life.
It isn't unusual to see birds like this frost covered juvenile Northern Harrier at Farmington Bay WMA, Utah early in the morning before the sun rises and warms them up.
Through the steamy mists of a hot spring I found a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk at Blue Creek Spring in Box Elder County and I hoped to get a few decent images of it.
Rough-legged Hawks are known for kiting or hovering nearly motionless in the air while turning their head side to side to look for prey on the ground below them.
I was able to take a few frames of this juvenile Northern Harrier in flight as it flew over some open water.
The first great opportunity I had with them this year was this male Rough-legged Hawk perched on a stump at Bear River National Wildlife Refuge in Box Elder County.
I photographed this juvenile Northern Harrier as it perched on a post near Goose Egg Island at Farmington Bay.
There are always exceptions. So yes, Red-tailed Hawks do sit on wires and that is one rule of birding to discount.
One good bird can "make" a trip and yesterday a male Rough-legged Hawk made my trip to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge worthwhile.
Back in early 2009 I was wandering with some friends in a hammock at Myakka River State Park, Florida when we came across this Red-shouldered Hawk.
This past summer I found a Red-tailed Hawk nest right next to a road in Montana that had three chicks in it that I felt I could photograph without stressing the hawks.
It is early October but I am already starting to get excited about seeing my first of the season Rough-legged Hawks.
I had wanted to post this photo of a juvenile Swainson's Hawk last week from Montana but because my cell signal was so cruddy I didn't get this image uploaded.
I photographed a Swainson's Hawk family for several mornings while I was in Montana and this is one of the juveniles I focused on.
I sat with some juvenile Swainson's Hawks yesterday morning for quite some time and it eventually paid off when an adult came in to hand off prey but the young hawk missed.
I am enjoying my time in the Centennial Valley especially when I can spend time photographing raptors like this adult light morph Swainson's Hawk.
I came across this image of a male Rough-legged Hawk taken this past February and it caused me to wonder what this upcoming winter will be like.
Yesterday I spent the morning in Box Elder County driving along the Promontory Mountain Range and Red-tailed Hawks were the most numerous raptors I saw.
I created this juvenile Swainson's Hawk image two days ago before the sun rose over the mountains and I liked how it turned out despite the low light.
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.