Last year on September 8th I located an immature Sharp-shinned Hawk in the Centennial Valley of Montana early in the morning as it flew low to the ground looking for small birds to capture and consume.
I miss these young Short-eared Owls but I hope they are doing well and will return next year to breed and have young of their own.
It will take several molts before this immature Ring-billed Gull looks like an adult but by now, a year after it was photographed, this juvenile should look more like the adult.
I was able to take several images of this hungry Western Grebe chick begging to be fed and laughed out loud when I saw this funny face through my view finder.
The sound you hear in the video is just one Western Grebe chick begging to be fed and it was loud even over the wind!
Yesterday I had an immature Sage Thrasher get so close to me that I was able to take portraits of it as it perched out in the open.
Yesterday morning I spent fifteen minutes with sibling Burrowing Owl juveniles in northern Utah not long after the sun came up and while there was still golden light.
I haven't posted a Burrowing Owl in a bit so I thought I would share this yawning juvenile Burrowing Owl that I photographed the beginning of July.
I saw plenty of birds yesterday including juvenile Black-crowned Night Herons at Bear River MBR every where I looked.
Temps were probably in the teens when I photographed this juvenile harrier in January of 2010 at Farmington Bay. Ahhh.
Killdeer chicks are precocial and active soon after hatching and will leave the nest as soon as their down dries.
I was also delighted to photograph this juvenile Mountain Bluebird on the way to Gravelly Range early in the morning.
These are a few of the Beaverhead County Red-tailed Hawks that I have photographed while on this trip to Montana and Idaho.
When I took this image the juvenile Loggerhead Shrike was perched on a dead twig when the robber fly flew into the frame, the shrike took off after the fly and caught it in mid air.
This time of the year I see plenty of molting Red-tailed Hawks and they can look pretty tattered, worn and shabby.
The Targhee National Forest is a wonderful place to find and photograph birds and wildlife including this Red-tailed Hawk juvenile in flight.
How could I resist taking images of a fledgling Short-eared Owl in tumbleweeds? I just couldn't.
It felt amazing to be alone with these northern Utah Short-eared Owl chicks for a few brief moments yesterday.
This portrait of a Great Horned Owl chick in a hay barn might not have been taken in the most aesthetically pleasing location but I don't think the owlet gives a hoot about the rusty iron beams and corrugated metal walls.
Last August I was a bit surprised to see a Northern House Wren at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge from the auto tour loop around the marshes there.
April in northern Utah is a good time to see and photograph molting immature White-crowned Sparrows.
Yesterday at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I was able to photograph several first spring Red-winged Blackbird males.
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.
Antelope Island Chukars don't just attract out of town visitors to the island, they still call in locals like myself to see, hear and photograph them.
These images from different times of the year show Mountain Bluebird plumage development stages from not long after fledging to adulthood.
These images of a Great Blue Heron at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge were taken last September on the auto tour route at the refuge.
Last year in mid August I photographed a very cooperative juvenile Barn Swallow at Bear River MBR and realized I hadn't posted any images of the bird or written about my encounter with it.
I photographed this immature Black-billed Magpie in flight last September on Antelope Island State Park as it flew over a rabbitbrush that was just about to bloom.
I feel fortunate that I am able to see and photograph both the Western and Eastern Kingbird juveniles here in northern Utah.
These two Loggerhead Shrike juveniles on a log were photographed last August on Antelope Island and were probably from a second brood.