raptors

Male Red-tailed Hawk Resting On A Desert Cliff

By |2021-03-22T10:26:06-05:00April 28th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The best bird I spotted that I could photograph was a male Red-tailed Hawk resting on a cliff face and what I loved about this photo was all the grasses, lichen, wildflowers and the sage high up on the cliff.

Two Merlins Were My Best Finds Of The Day At Bear River MBR

By |2024-02-15T03:42:42-06:00April 24th, 2019|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Merlins, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

There isn't a single day in the field where I take my eyesight and my keen spotting abilities for granted and yesterday those attributes netted me not one but two Merlins while I was at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.

Californian Richard Parker Convicted For Mass Killing Of Raptors

By |2022-10-04T04:38:59-05:00April 13th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

Justice has been served in the case of Richard Parker killing the 150 raptors but that does not bring those valuable raptors back. Parker should be glad that I wasn't his judge.

Staring Dark Morph Swainson’s Hawk Close Up

By |2021-03-31T05:57:31-05:00April 4th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I've shared photos of this gorgeous dark morph Swainson's Hawk before and I've written about how I believed it was the darkest, dark morph I had ever seen and to date that still holds true.

More Photos Of The Rufous Red-tailed Hawk Female

By |2024-04-02T11:20:17-05:00April 1st, 2019|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I had a great time photographing this beautiful rufous Red-tailed Hawk yesterday morning and I'm glad I had good light when I did.

Rufous Morph Red-tailed Hawk Taking Flight Photos

By |2021-01-28T15:15:01-06:00March 22nd, 2019|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

By the time I took this next image in the series the Red-tailed Hawk had straightened her legs, her wings were high over her body and she was pushing off from the rock.

Nesting Red-tailed Hawks – Plus Guidelines On Photographing Nesting Birds

By |2023-03-05T04:24:56-06:00March 17th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I'm happy to see that the rufous female Red-tailed Hawk does have a mate and that they are building a nest to raise their young in, I hope they are successful.

One Stunning Rufous Red-tailed Hawk – How Finding It Saved My Day

By |2023-12-11T02:49:40-06:00March 13th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

If I hadn't found and pointed out this stunning rufous Red-tailed Hawk yesterday morning I would have basically come home without a single decent image of a bird.

Adult Bald Eagle at Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge

By |2022-10-02T08:26:02-05:00March 10th, 2019|Categories: Bald Eagles, Birds, Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, Juab County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

One of my trips out to Fish Springs NWR happened during this time of the year and while I was there so was a gorgeous adult Bald Eagle that perched in the trees near the picnic area not too far from the refuge headquarters.

Back View Of An Immature Female Northern Harrier Hovering

By |2024-02-21T15:14:32-06:00February 24th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Would you be able to ID this hawk from just this image or similar view of it in the field if I hadn't already identified it in my title and my photo caption?

Rough-legged Hawk Expelling A Pellet Close Up Photos

By |2021-11-06T07:42:49-05:00February 20th, 2019|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I've never been this close to a Rough-legged Hawk expelling a pellet before and it is likely that I will never be this fortunate again. This Rough-legged Hawk was my best bird for the day and I'm glad I stopped and waited for him to expel the pellet before moving on down the auto tour route.

Farmington Bay Bald Eagles Close Up And Far Away

By |2021-06-16T11:53:39-05:00February 17th, 2019|Categories: Bald Eagles, Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I'd gotten the long distance images of the Bald Eagles at Farmington Bay that I wanted to take plus close up images of this adult eagle as it flew past me. It was a great morning to be at Farmington Bay.

Barn Owl, Immature Bald Eagle, California And Ring-billed Gulls

By |2021-12-24T14:34:50-06:00February 9th, 2019|Categories: Bald Eagles, Barn Owls, Birds, California Gulls, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Ring-billed Gulls, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

So, even though I didn't get great photos yesterday I was glad to get out and photograph a Barn Owl, Bald Eagle and these California and Ring-billed Gulls.

Eye Level With A Rough-legged Hawk Carrying Prey

By |2024-01-24T05:41:01-06:00January 13th, 2019|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Being at eye level with this Rough-legged Hawk carrying prey along the causeway to Antelope Island is an experience I won't soon forget.

Rough-legged Hawk Photographed On Christmas Eve Day 2013

By |2021-02-06T10:28:04-06:00December 24th, 2018|Categories: Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

After looking through all of those images I decided to share a photo today of an immature Rough-legged Hawk perched on a waterfowl rest area sign taken at Farmington Bay WMA on Christmas Eve day in 2013.

Winter Ferruginous Hawk Lift Off And Flight Series

By |2021-09-23T07:24:57-05:00December 16th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Ferruginous Hawks, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I was able to photograph two Ferruginous Hawks yesterday morning in the West Desert in Tooele County. The light was good, I had birds in my viewfinder and I was away from our building inversion so I was one happy woman.

Cooper’s Hawk & European Starling Encounter

By |2024-03-16T12:48:46-05:00December 10th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Cooper’s Hawks, European Starlings, Lee Kay Ponds, Morgan County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Then the noise suddenly stopped and I saw the silhouette of a European Starling fly out of the tree with the Cooper's Hawk hot on its tail, literally.

Portrait Of A First Spring Male Northern Harrier In Northern Utah

By |2021-04-10T07:31:43-05:00November 28th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

It isn't often that I am able to be close enough to a Northern Harrier to take a portrait of one, in fact I can only think of one time that I've been that fortunate and that was in May of 2016.

Peek-a-boo Rough-legged Hawk At Farmington Bay WMA

By |2022-12-15T09:50:50-06:00November 27th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Hawks, Eagles, Ospreys and Vultures, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Why did it make me laugh and smile? Because it looks like the Rough-legged Hawk might have been playing peek-a-boo as it looked towards me through its wingtips.

Red-tailed Hawk In Morning Light – Wasatch Mountains In The Shadows

By |2023-09-28T05:35:34-05:00November 4th, 2018|Categories: Birds, East Canyon, Morgan County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday morning for a few moments I had one of those opportunities with a Red-tailed Hawk perched on top of some trees in East Canyon where the mountains in the background where still in the shadows and because of that the bird seemed to glow.

Sub-adult Swainson’s Hawk in Northern Utah

By |2021-03-31T05:52:44-05:00October 29th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

By this time of the year Swainson's Hawks have left Utah and headed towards South America to their wintering grounds but the memories I have of the hawks never leave me.

Immature Red-tailed Hawk In Flight With The Colors Of Autumn

By |2023-09-28T05:39:19-05:00October 26th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

The more I have looked at this image over the past year the more I liked it for the flight pose, the look at the Red-tailed Hawk's plumage colors against those yellow leaves and somehow the poor lighting conditions became less significant to my eyes.

Rough-legged Hawks Have Returned & Expect Big Changes At Bear River MBR

By |2023-10-25T18:21:56-05:00October 17th, 2018|Categories: American Pipits, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

My big excitement yesterday morning was seeing my first, second and third of the year Rough-legged Hawks at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and the next thing was seeing all the changes that have happened at the refuge since my last visit.

Autumn East Canyon Red-tailed Hawk Adults

By |2024-04-06T09:18:22-05:00October 16th, 2018|Categories: Birds, East Canyon, Morgan County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I saw a low of 15°F yesterday morning up in the East Canyon of the Wasatch Mountains and I also saw plenty of Red-tailed Hawk adults perched in trees and flying along the way.

Late Summer Juvenile Cooper’s Hawk With The Colors Of Fall

By |2024-03-16T12:38:30-05:00September 6th, 2018|Categories: Cooper’s Hawks, Little Dutch Hollow, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I know, I could grumble about not being able to photograph the young Cooper's Hawk taking its prey down just feet away from my Jeep but you know what? Being there to see nature in action was enough for me.

Sibling Red-tailed Hawk Juveniles Perched & On The Wing

By |2021-03-15T09:22:43-05:00July 17th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Back in March of this year I started watching and photographing a pair of Red-tailed Hawks in the process of building their nest on the face of a high cliff, these two juveniles are the results of the hard work of that pair of hawks.

Rufous Morph Red-tailed Hawk – Finally Some Photos in Good Light

By |2021-09-19T05:40:38-05:00May 9th, 2018|Categories: Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I have been trying to photograph this rufous morph Red-tailed Hawk in good light since the first time I spotted her on the 24th of March in northern Utah, yesterday I finally accomplished that goal.

Male Northern Harrier Diving After Falling Prey – Paying Attention Beyond the Viewfinder

By |2021-04-10T04:08:46-05:00May 5th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Northern Harriers, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I was able to take these photos of the male Northern Harrier diving after his falling prey because I looked beyond my viewfinder and quickly locked onto the action happening overhead.

Intermediate Morph Swainson’s Hawk In Flight

By |2021-04-15T03:54:17-05:00April 26th, 2018|Categories: Box Elder County, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

Last week I was able to photograph several Swainson's Hawks, some perched and others while in flight and of the flight photos I liked this photo the most because of the mountains in the background.

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