I rarely post photos of the same species two days in a row but yesterday I spent more time with magpies and I like these two images well enough to make an exception. More than well enough, actually.
Male Sage Thrashers sometimes perform this display all day long but it’s sporadic, almost impossible to predict and they’re shy about doing it so it’s difficult tp photograph well.
When Rough-legged Hawks dive on prey they can appear to hit the ground so hard they vicariously rattle my teeth and I almost expect them to bounce on impact.
To the casual observer Loggerhead Shrikes may seem like just another songbird but in reality they’re fierce little predators whose prey includes arthropods, amphibians, reptiles, small mammals, roadkill and carrion. “Wannabe raptors” indeed.
I fully expected to be skunked by the lack of birds or poor light or both but this trip to Antelope Island was a little better than I anticipated. We actually had good light until near the end of the morning and we found a few interesting critters.
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