Category: Birds
Finally! – Another Antelope Island Burrowing Owl
It’s been a tough summer for me with Burrowing Owls. Normally I spend a lot of time photographing them but this year they’ve been mostly uncooperative to the extreme – too skittish, too far away, too buried in vegetation and too scarce.
But I had a pleasant surprise two days ago on Antelope Island.
Male Northern Harrier – Hunting Low And Slow
I’ve been photographing Northern Harriers for years now and I still get a thrill whenever I can get close to one of these shy hawks. And if it’s an elusive adult male (the “Gray Ghost”), well that’s just icing on the cake.
Yellow-headed Blackbird Displaying
Male Yellow-headed Blackbirds go through some pretty wild gyrations as they display in the spring. This is one of their tamer poses but I liked the symmetry of the bird against the soft background.
The Interdependence Of Short-eared Owls And Voles
Though Short-eared Owls are one of the worlds most widespread owls, the species is highly dependent on the density of its small mammal prey, voles in particular. Since vole populations fluctuate wildly, Short-eared Owls show significant local variation in numbers and reproductive success from year to year.
Perch-hunting Red-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawks in North America are “sit and wait predators” who do most of their hunting (60 – 80%) from elevated perches. Though they do hunt from the air, that is not their primary hunting style. In fact, availability of elevated perches is a key factor in determining their foraging distribution.
Antelope Island is largely treeless and without power poles so Red-tails tend to be found in specific locations on the island where elevated natural perches are available. One of their favorite foraging spots is an area where there are large outcroppings of Farmington Canyon Complex rocks jutting out from the side of a small mountain, which is where I found this bird hunting voles
Burrowing Owl In Dramatic Side Light
As every photographer knows, light angle can make or break an image. In static portrait shots especially, partial side lighting (at perhaps 45 degrees to your subject) emphasizes texture, patterns and shapes and helps to separate subject from background. It’s been said that side light “sculpts” your subject.
The Last Of The Hummingbirds
Last night a local birder reported a Black-chinned Hummingbird in his back yard here in the Salt Lake Valley and I was quite surprised to hear about it. I haven’t seen a hummingbird for several weeks and I thought that by now, with our significantly colder weather of late, they’d have all moved on for warmer climes. That particular bird must be a hardy one. Or lost…
But the news reminded me that before the snow flies I planned on posting a few more images of the hummers I photographed on Antelope Island several weeks ago.
Bald Eagle Potpourri
Yesterday morning I saw my first Bald Eagle of the season at Farmington Bay. It was too far away for even mediocre images but it was there! We have a small number of resident eagles in northern Utah but those few birds normally don’t hang out at Farmington this early in the season so I’m not sure if it was a wandering resident or an early migrant. Either way it was a delight to see.
As a result, when I began thinking about today’s post my mind kept returning to eagles so I thought I’d present several images taken at Farmington two winters ago.
Lazuli Buntings In The San Rafael Swell
Appropriately named after the blue gemstone lapis lazuli, the Lazuli Bunting is one of our most colorful western birds. The persistent and conspicuous song of the male throughout the breeding season has been likened to an “acoustic barcode” that is unique to that individual bird.
“Hanging” Northern Harrier – Hunting Low and Slow
When hunting, Northern Harriers have a distinctive buoyant flight. They glide with wings held in a strong dihedral and have low wing loading which allows them to fly low and slow as they search for prey. When watching them hunt there are times I think they’re going to fall right out of the air.
Three Burrowing Owls and More Challenges With Depth Of Field
I’d been photographing a family of these birds for several weeks but typical of the species they were usually on the ground with obstructing vegetation in front of them or buried too deeply in the sagebrush. But as I approached them on this early August morning (in my pickup, from the road) there were two juveniles and one adult perched high on the sagebrush in nice warm light and there was a clean, pleasing background. My little heart went pit-a-pat at the opportunity but then I had to deal with the harsh reality of depth of field.
Red-tailed Hawk – Another Optical Illusion
Raptor landing shots are one of my most difficult photographic challenges and I attempt them every reasonable chance I get. This one turned out to be unexpectedly interesting, at least from a photographer’s point of view.
Mountain Bluebird On A Natural Perch (Finally)
I have many nice images of Mountain Bluebirds but almost without exception they’re all on unnatural perches such as fence posts, wires or nest boxes. This one chose a perch that I like better.
HawkWatch International 2014 Calendar
I support a variety of educational and conservation organizations by donating my images but I’ll admit that some of them are more near and dear to me than others. Near the top of my list is HawkWatch International.
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Finally! – Another Antelope Island Burrowing Owl
It’s been a tough summer for me with Burrowing Owls. Normally I spend a lot of time photographing them but this year they’ve been mostly uncooperative to the extreme – too skittish, too far away, too buried in vegetation and too scarce.
But I had a pleasant surprise two days ago on Antelope Island.
Male Northern Harrier – Hunting Low And Slow
I’ve been photographing Northern Harriers for years now and I still get a thrill whenever I can get close to one of these shy hawks. And if it’s an elusive adult male (the “Gray Ghost”), well that’s just icing on the cake.
Yellow-headed Blackbird Displaying
Male Yellow-headed Blackbirds go through some pretty wild gyrations as they display in the spring. This is one of their tamer poses but I liked the symmetry of the bird against the soft background.
The Interdependence Of Short-eared Owls And Voles
Though Short-eared Owls are one of the worlds most widespread owls, the species is highly dependent on the density of its small mammal prey, voles in particular. Since vole populations fluctuate wildly, Short-eared Owls show significant local variation in numbers and reproductive success from year to year.
Perch-hunting Red-tailed Hawk
Red-tailed Hawks in North America are “sit and wait predators” who do most of their hunting (60 – 80%) from elevated perches. Though they do hunt from the air, that is not their primary hunting style. In fact, availability of elevated perches is a key factor in determining their foraging distribution.
Antelope Island is largely treeless and without power poles so Red-tails tend to be found in specific locations on the island where elevated natural perches are available. One of their favorite foraging spots is an area where there are large outcroppings of Farmington Canyon Complex rocks jutting out from the side of a small mountain, which is where I found this bird hunting voles
Burrowing Owl In Dramatic Side Light
As every photographer knows, light angle can make or break an image. In static portrait shots especially, partial side lighting (at perhaps 45 degrees to your subject) emphasizes texture, patterns and shapes and helps to separate subject from background. It’s been said that side light “sculpts” your subject.
The Last Of The Hummingbirds
Last night a local birder reported a Black-chinned Hummingbird in his back yard here in the Salt Lake Valley and I was quite surprised to hear about it. I haven’t seen a hummingbird for several weeks and I thought that by now, with our significantly colder weather of late, they’d have all moved on for warmer climes. That particular bird must be a hardy one. Or lost…
But the news reminded me that before the snow flies I planned on posting a few more images of the hummers I photographed on Antelope Island several weeks ago.
Bald Eagle Potpourri
Yesterday morning I saw my first Bald Eagle of the season at Farmington Bay. It was too far away for even mediocre images but it was there! We have a small number of resident eagles in northern Utah but those few birds normally don’t hang out at Farmington this early in the season so I’m not sure if it was a wandering resident or an early migrant. Either way it was a delight to see.
As a result, when I began thinking about today’s post my mind kept returning to eagles so I thought I’d present several images taken at Farmington two winters ago.
Lazuli Buntings In The San Rafael Swell
Appropriately named after the blue gemstone lapis lazuli, the Lazuli Bunting is one of our most colorful western birds. The persistent and conspicuous song of the male throughout the breeding season has been likened to an “acoustic barcode” that is unique to that individual bird.
“Hanging” Northern Harrier – Hunting Low and Slow
When hunting, Northern Harriers have a distinctive buoyant flight. They glide with wings held in a strong dihedral and have low wing loading which allows them to fly low and slow as they search for prey. When watching them hunt there are times I think they’re going to fall right out of the air.
Three Burrowing Owls and More Challenges With Depth Of Field
I’d been photographing a family of these birds for several weeks but typical of the species they were usually on the ground with obstructing vegetation in front of them or buried too deeply in the sagebrush. But as I approached them on this early August morning (in my pickup, from the road) there were two juveniles and one adult perched high on the sagebrush in nice warm light and there was a clean, pleasing background. My little heart went pit-a-pat at the opportunity but then I had to deal with the harsh reality of depth of field.
Red-tailed Hawk – Another Optical Illusion
Raptor landing shots are one of my most difficult photographic challenges and I attempt them every reasonable chance I get. This one turned out to be unexpectedly interesting, at least from a photographer’s point of view.
Mountain Bluebird On A Natural Perch (Finally)
I have many nice images of Mountain Bluebirds but almost without exception they’re all on unnatural perches such as fence posts, wires or nest boxes. This one chose a perch that I like better.
HawkWatch International 2014 Calendar
I support a variety of educational and conservation organizations by donating my images but I’ll admit that some of them are more near and dear to me than others. Near the top of my list is HawkWatch International.