I love the descriptive name "Tiger of the Sky" when referring to Great Horned Owls, they are fierce, fearless and ferocious and the young owl in the image above is a 'Tiger in the Sky" in the making.
Quite often I don't have much time at all to get ready to take images because you need to get close to the subject, find a good angle of light and make sure your camera settings will produce the best image for the conditions.
Burrowing Owls are iconic birds of Antelope Island State Park, I can't tell you how many times people write to me and ask "Where can I see Burrowing Owls on Antelope Island State Park?".
Rough-legged Hawks are on their way south from their Arctic breeding grounds and will soon be making their appearance here in Utah.
One of the Red-tailed Hawk juveniles I photographed on Antelope Island last year has "migrated" to Switzerland where my photo of it will be featured on a 5 x 15 meter billboard for a yacht company.
I'm having a blast meeting and photographing the new generation of Western Grebes at the refuge.
Yesterday was frustrating for me near Snowville, Utah because there were raptors all around but not many of them were close enough to photograph and the ones that were close were either vey skittish or wouldn't fly off of the power poles even after long periods of time.
Since my first visit to the Centennial Valley of Montana on June 18, 2010 I have wanted to photograph a bird; preferably a raptor, on the reddish orange lichen covered rocks found throughout the valley. On this last trip that finally happened!
Eastern Kingbirds; like their western counterpart, are fearless and will attack birds as large as Bald Eagles to defend their nests.
It won't be long before Swainson's Hawks start to migrate to South America and some may already have started their journey south.
Last month while up in Montana I saw this young Red-tailed Hawk just standing in the road looking around and not acting the least bit concerned about the pickup or the two large lens that were pointed at it.
I don't often have the opportunity to photograph juvenile Western Kingbirds but last week I did at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in Box Elder County.
Last month and this month I wrote about Mountain Bluebirds in several posts that included images of adult males and females, today I am posting one image of the many fledglings I saw last week.
Yes, I was mobbed by Loggerhead Shrikes and I didn't mind a bit because it afforded me the opportunity to observe and photograph them up close and it was fascinating!
Four years ago today I woke up in Grand Island, Nebraska and drove west to arrive in Salt Lake City, Utah with my possessions in a U-Haul trailer.
It won't be long before these young Loggerhead Shrikes earn the name "Butcher Bird" by following their parents wing beats!
Yesterday a family of Loggerhead Shrikes kept us busy for a bit as the juveniles begged the adults to feed them and the adults were hunting food to bring to the rather noisy youngsters on Antelope Island State Park.
I'm extremely fond of owls, it might be their forward facing eyes that draws me to them. Of course I love all birds but to me owls are special.
Western Burrowing Owls populations are declining, human population explosion and subsequent urban development plus habitat degradation has reduced Burrowing Owl populations by 60% and that number is still rising.
It won't be long before I start seeing juvenile Willets that are about the size of the one pictured here.
Buteos are medium to large hawks with broad wings, wide bodies and short tails that soar in wide lazy circles and most often hunt from a high perch from which they drop down to their prey.
Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron Stalking prey at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in northern Utah
Sometimes I take the shot despite knowing that I am not shooting in optimal conditions, most of the time the results are awful but once in awhile I actually enjoy the final image.
White Ibis can be strange looking birds to people who have never seen them before, they have soft, sky blue eyes, skinny legs, long necks and a bill that could be compared to Jimmy Durante's nose.
I've said before that owls fascinate me; probably more times than I can count, and Short-eared Owls are always a delight.
I can't resist photographing Burrowing Owls, I just can't. They are so much fun to see and observe.
This juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk was perched on a metal fence post so I opted to go for a portrait to remove the "hand of man".
I do hope that non-photographers and the general public know that behavior like this is an exception and that ethical photographers would not have gone up and petted the Sandhill Cranes.
Last week I spotted my first Burrowing Owl of the year, it was a distance away and I didn't take any images of it but I had to do a wiggle dance in my seat because I was excited seeing one again.
Last summer I was able to see and photograph a juvenile Swainson's Hawk expelling a pellet in Beaverhead County, Montana.