Photographing Short-eared Owls in flight with naturally obtained (not baited) prey in a wild setting is near the pinnacle of my bird photography aspirations. Thankfully I’ve had that opportunity several times and I’ll be forever grateful.
I typically go about 10 months of the year without seeing Barn Owls flying in daylight but when snow and extremely cold temperatures arrive they’re often forced to hunt during daytime in order to obtain enough food to survive.
Today, readers get a “twofer”: a Forster’s Tern with prey and a rare Common Black-hawk.
It isn’t unusual for some bird species to regularly attempt to swallow prey that is too large to go down the hatch. I see American White Pelicans and Great Blue Herons make such attempts fairly often but around here Pied-billed Grebes and Western Grebes seem to be the kings of Gluttony Hill.
I believe this juvenile Swainson’s Hawk was taken by surprise by what it found in its mouth.
Last month I posted a few images of this Merlin in the fog. For subtle reasons this may be my favorite from the entire session with the bird.
Sometimes raptors risk serious injury as they go after prey – especially to their eyes.
I photographed this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk yesterday morning near Farmington Bay as it prepared to eat a vole it had just caught.
Note: Fair warning – the second photo in this sequence is slightly graphic so sensitive folks may want to avoid scrolling further than the first image.
On our recent Montana trip I spent two morning sessions with a cooperative Merlin at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in the Centennial Valley.
Who among us has not been at least a little bit curious about precisely what birds are eating?
In my experience Red-tailed Hawks in flight most often carry prey in their talons but this molting adult surprised me a little.
I make every effort in the field to “read” the behavior of my avian subjects. Sometimes I’m right and sometimes I’m not but either way it’s a learning experience for me and my percentage of accuracy does seem to be improving. One of the payoffs can be better bird photographs for a variety of reasons.
Ten days ago I reported on the progress of the three Red-tailed Hawk nestlings I’ve been following out in the west desert. At that time several of my readers requested that I keep folks up to date on these birds as they approach fledging. This post is my attempt to do so.
Five days ago I posted a series of images of a male Loggerhead Shrike feeding his mate (a ritual that is part of the pair bond between mated birds) and at the time I mentioned that I had photographed the same behavior the day before from the same birds. This is that sequence of images.
Western Grebes are almost exclusively fish-eaters but yesterday morning at Bear River MBR I photographed one consuming a crayfish.
