We still have our winter birds and the spring migrants have begun their journey north so my bird photography is likely to pick up and get exciting soon if the clouds will give me a break.
I spent forty-one minutes observing and photographing this Peregrine Falcon yesterday while it rested, preened and stretched right next to the Great Salt Lake.
My best bird of the day was a juvenile Rough-legged Hawk standing on a jackrabbit in the snow that I spotted next to the road.
When I photographed this Rough-legged Hawk on a snow and lichen covered rock the light was decent and brought out the colors of the hawk and the orange lichen covering the rocky outcropping it was perched on.
The American Kestrel was perched on an arching wild rose branch with prey in his bill when I photographed him with snow covered ice and the Wasatch Mountains in the background
Many of the birds here in the Salt Lake Valley find a place to roost in the evening and overnight frost begins to accumulate on their feathers like it did on this Rough-legged Hawk on a parking sign.
The Prairie Falcon I photographed had prey and that may be why it was less skittish. I have no idea what the prey is but it is larger than a vole and had fur not feathers.
Almost three years ago today I spent time photographing a Red-tailed Hawk at Farmington Bay that was hunting in a snowy field while using a nest box as a perch to watch for prey.
I think this Rough-legged Hawk has read one too many hysterical Tweets lately. I know I have.
Every single image I took yesterday was way softer than they would have been had it not been for those heat waves coming up the side of the pickup. To say I was disappointed is putting it lightly.
This first year Red-tailed Hawk close up in the snow storm was a reminder of how much our birds and wildlife have to struggle to get through the harsh winter.
There are natural perches along the access roads right next to the interstate and if I am lucky I can find raptors perched there on occasion too.
I have to say that when I viewed this image on my monitor of the Ferruginous Hawk taking off from the power pole yesterday that I laughed out loud.
When the partially leucistic Red-tailed Hawk lifted off from the power pole I was able to capture photos of it in flight and I was stunned by the beauty of the hawk, pictures do not do this bird justice.
Twice in the past two weeks I have seen Bald Eagles, one four year old bird in flight over the marshes at Farmington Bay WMA and one juvenile perched in a tree up in Box Elder County.
This time of the year I start looking for Peregrine Falcons to show up near the shoreline of the Great Salt Lake because of the high numbers of ducks that are usually there.
Yesterday at Farmington Bay I was pleased to photograph this juvenile Northern Harrier female in flight as she went past me while I sat in a mobile blind.
When I took this image of a Red-tailed Hawk fluttering its wings on a pole in Box Elder County earlier this month I didn't think I'd like it and I am still not sure if I do.
I went to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge yesterday hoping to see and photograph my first of the season Tundra Swans and Rough-legged Hawks, I dipped on the swans but found at least 5 of the hawks.
I didn't think I'd like this photo of a perched Red-tailed Hawk under gray, blustery skies but I do
This photo shows the sub-adult Red-tailed Hawk in flight in the glow of the evening light just a split second after it had lifted off from a perch further away.
I like that Esther the Eaglet is written with children in mind and that it might inspire the children who read it to become rehabilitators, biologists, ornithologists, nature lovers, birders, environmentalists or even bird photographers like myself.
I enjoyed seeing the Red-tailed Hawks yesterday and observing their nesting maintenance behavior in the Fall, I don't see it very often so it makes it special to me.
Mid-morning I found a perched intermediate morph Swainson's Hawk in Box Elder County and was delighted when it didn't fly off immediately.
When I found this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk on a lichen covered boulder in Idaho I took a little over 160 frames of it.
I photographed these two Red-tailed Hawks near old route 91 in Idaho which runs close to Interstate 15, part of the road is still paved and part of it is gravel.
I do love the look I was getting from the sub-adult Red-tailed Hawk just before it flew away to land on a perch on the other side of the railroad tracks
When I photographed this Red-tailed Hawk lifting off from the nest it was in mid-April and I don't believe they had laid their eggs yet.
I've been meaning to post images of this sub-adult Swainson's Hawk in low light for about a year now and I am finally getting around to it.
At the time I created this image I didn't realize that when I took this portrait of the adult Red-tailed Hawk that I also photographed an ant. Can you see it?