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Eye Level With A Northern Harrier

By |January 6th, 2014|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Even though I have been a bird photographer for some time now I still get a thrill when I am eye level with a bird of prey because it feels as if I am more strongly connected to the raptor when they fly in close at eye level.

Rough-legged Hawk lifting off

By |December 27th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Rough-legged Hawks are among my favorites of the raptors that over winter in the Salt Lake Valley of Utah because I only see them at this time of the year while they wait to head back to the subarctic and Arctic to breed.

Juvenile Female Northern Harrier – The Eyes Have It

By |December 14th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Eye color can be used to sex juvenile Northern Harriers, brown for juvenile females and yellowish for the males and this harrier is a definite brown-eyed beauty.

Frosted Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area

By |December 13th, 2013|Categories: Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I have mentioned in recent posts that winter can be harsh in the Salt Lake Valley in posts with images I had taken at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area so I wanted to share these two images taken there yesterday.

Great Blue Heron Up Close And Not So Close

By |August 26th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Great Blue Herons, Pinellas County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

One December morning in 2008 I was sitting in the sand at Fort De Soto County Park's north beach in Florida when a Great Blue Heron came up and perched on a driftwood stump that had washed up onto the shore.

What is the last thing a Jackrabbit might see – A Ferruginous Hawk

By |August 6th, 2013|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Ferruginous Hawks, Montana|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Ferruginous Hawks west of the Continental Divide prefer rabbits as prey so what you see here might be the last thing a Cottontail or Jackrabbit might see.

Simple Red-tailed Hawk photo from Montana

By |July 30th, 2013|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Montana, Red-tailed Hawks|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

This adult Red-tailed flew by at close range which gave me a very nice view of the underside of its wing that shows it was also molting though it didn't look as raggedy as some of the other adult Red-tailed Hawks looked.

Yellow Warbler – Small in the Frame

By |July 25th, 2013|Categories: Beaverhead County, Centennial Valley, Montana, Northern Yellow Warblers, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Wildlife Ethics & Etiquette|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The Yellow Warbler in my image was singing along a creek lined with willows and although the bird is small in the frame I find this image appealing because of the simple lines, the bird's pose and the wonderful eye contact the bird gave me as it briefly looked towards me.

Green-tailed Towhee high up on Bountiful Canyon

By |July 24th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Green-tailed Towhees, Sky Line Drive, Bountiful Canyon, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Last week while heading up the Skyline Drive of Bountiful Canyon this Green-tailed Towhee was singing on top of a shrub and I was surprised when it hung around for about 2 minutes

Black-crowned Night Heron at Bear River MBR

By |July 11th, 2013|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Black-crowned Night Herons, Box Elder County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

I spotted this Black-crowned Night Heron that was almost hidden by the vegetation but as soon as we stopped it darted towards some open water in foraging mode.

Five Years Ago Today At Fort De Soto

By |July 6th, 2013|Categories: American Oystercatchers, Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Great Egrets, Pinellas County, Reddish Egrets|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Five years ago today I headed to the north beach of Fort De Soto County Park despite knowing that there were looming storms off of the coast hanging just off shore over the Gulf of Mexico and I am glad that I did because the light that day on the beach was exquisite.

Adult Red-tailed Hawk In A Montana Sky

By |June 17th, 2013|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Montana, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Red-tailed Hawks|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

There are issues with this image which I will cover shortly but I really liked the pose of this Red-tailed Hawk, the spread of the wings, the flared tail and the great eye contact I was able to capture as the Red-tail looked down towards me as it flew in a bright blue Montana sky.

Hovering American Kestrel Male In Utah

By |June 2nd, 2013|Categories: American Kestrels, Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Hovering Kestrel shots aren't easy to capture without baiting or using decoys, part of that is because I can't tell when a kestrel might get it in its mind to hover for prey, the other part is being in the right place at the right time.

Eastern Willet in flight at Fort De Soto

By |May 28th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Willets|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

There are two subspecies of Willets which Western and Eastern, here in Utah I only see the Western subspecies but in Florida I could see both during the course of a year.

Western Meadowlark In Flight

By |May 22nd, 2013|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Utah, Western Meadowlarks|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

This Western Meadowlark lifted off from a Sagebrush and I was able to track it and capture this image as soon as it was airborne. I've found it difficult to get images of Western Meadowlarks in flight because they move so quickly.

Tale Of A Red-tailed Hawk

By |April 26th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Red-tailed Hawks, Tooele County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

This is a rather short tale about a Red-tailed Hawk although the tail of the Red-tailed Hawk is no shorter than any other Red-tailed Hawk.

Sounds of Spring – Western Meadowlark

By |March 13th, 2013|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Davis County, Utah, Western Meadowlarks|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Normally we have Western Meadowlarks year round here in the Salt Lake Valley but because this past winter was harsh it seemed that they moved south for a bit. They are back now and singing their songs of spring.

Bird Images From Warmer And Sunnier Days

By |January 31st, 2013|Categories: Birds, Black Skimmers, Brown Pelicans, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Snowy Egrets, White Ibises|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I love winter, I love seeing snow on the mountains and feeling the crispness in the air but I am getting tired of gray cloudy days and heavy fog so I thought I would post a few bird images from warmer and sunnier days that I took while I lived in Florida.

Female Northern Harrier in flight

By |December 13th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Typically I see far more Northern Harriers in the winter here in Utah than I do during the breeding season which might be partly due to the harriers preferring to nest within marshy wetland areas which are in abundance around the Great Salt Lake.

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