It is the time of year when Red-tailed Hawks begin to nest, by now most of them here in northern Utah have already selected a mate so they find a nesting location and start to collect nesting materials as the days grow longer and warmer.
In some shrubs next to Glover Pond I saw two sparrows and the one that quickly drew my eye was a lovely first winter Harris's Sparrow, jackpot, a lifer!
I seriously don't know why some people do the things they do and there are times that I read articles and find myself simultaneously exceedingly sad and tremendously angry when those articles have to do with the malicious, illegal killing of birds and wildlife.
These two Swainson's Hawk photos were taken in May of last year up in northern Utah from inside a vehicle being used as a mobile blind and both were photographed from the side of a road where they had become accustomed to traffic going by so they weren't skittish at all.
The Rough-legged Hawk's wings were fully extended above its body while its feet were still firmly planted on the ground and with one downward swoop of its long wings it was airborne right after this was photo was created.
One good bird can make my day... Yesterday that bird was an immature Red-tailed Hawk at Farmington Bay WMA that lifted off from a metal post and flew over the marsh.
When I can get beautiful light on a Swainson's Hawk and deeply shadowed mountains in the background Mother Nature creates the drama.
Eight days ago I spent time photographing an immature, light morph Rough-legged Hawk at Farmington Bay WMA in northern Utah.
Yesterday morning I was able to photograph an immature Rough-legged Hawk lifting off, landing and lunching at Farmington Bay WMA in northern Utah.
For several weeks now Rough-legged Hawks have been migrating into northern Utah and showing up in locations where I have photographed them for years.
I've been thinking a lot about the lone surviving Red-tailed Hawk from the nest that blew down because of strong winds earlier in June.
Yesterday was one of those days where I thought I would come home and not have any images worth keeping until I spotted an immature Red-tailed Hawk perched on a tree near the road.
The birds and beasts on Antelope can survive the harsh winters here but as each years passes I wonder how they will be able to adapt to our changing climate. I can't help but be concerned.
North America has two hawk (buteos) species that have feathered tarsi, or legs, those two species are Ferruginous Hawks and Rough-legged Hawks.
I have wondered lately if I have gotten into a bit of a rut, photographically speaking, of always wanting to have the sun over my shoulder with "perfect" light falling directly on my subject.
Truthfully I had better luck with the moon and mountains than I did birds yesterday except for one handsome Ferruginous Hawk perched along the road near farm lands.
A year ago today I was photographing lots of Red-tailed Hawks in Clark County, Idaho and using my Nikon D500 in the field for the first time.
I saw my first juvenile Swainson's Hawk of the year last week and although it didn't give me any opportunities to take better images of it I was happy to see it perched on a power pole.
This juvenile Red-tailed Hawk may have looked like it was giving me the eye when I photographed it but it was actually looking for one of its parents to bring it some food.
As a bird photographer who spends enormous amounts of time in the field with my feathered subjects I am able to see avian behaviors that other people don't see who aren't focused on birds.
I was pleased and relieved to see the surviving Red-tailed Hawk juvenile perched on a corral close to the edge of the road and looking well fed and healthy.
I simply don't know what caused this kind of feather damage and I hope that someone can give me a better idea of what was going on with this Swainson's Hawk.
Red-tailed Hawks were my most photographed species yesterday morning in the Centennial Valley of southwestern Montana and I had fun with them.
I needed time out with the birds yesterday and this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk helped me to relax, breathe and remember that things have a way of working out.
Just because Willets weren't split this year doesn't mean they won't be split in the future, who knows what changes will be made a year from now.
I spotted two of the other Red-tailed Hawk chicks that I have been following since early spring and was delighted that they have now fledged and have both learned to fly.
A few days ago I saw an adult Red-tailed Hawk fly towards its nest with prey for its chicks, the prey was a duckling.
Yesterday I saw all three of the young Red-tailed Hawk chicks together perched on a fallen tree not far from where their natal nest had been before the wind knocked it down.
I saw the Red-tailed Hawk chicks near where the nest had been though and I spent less than two minutes with them and took a few images before leaving them alone.
Yesterday I was able to photograph the largest buteo in North America, a gorgeous Ferruginous Hawk that was on top of a hill with the Stansbury Mountains of the West Desert in the background.