Believe it or not it was at that moment that a Loggerhead Shrike with a chip on its shoulder swooped in out of nowhere to harass the hawk. Because I was ready for it I was able to get two shots with both birds in the frame. In this first one I don’t believe the hawk yet knows the shrike is there.
I’m no authority on the highly variable color variations of the Red-tailed Hawk but I believe this bird to be an intermediate-morph adult. I love these rufous-colored hawks.
Last month I spent some time photographing the Onaqui herd of wild horses in Utah’s west desert. Management of wild horses on public lands is a contentious issue and the BLM has now proposed the use of a relatively new management tool in an attempt at reigning in the population increase of the Onaqui herd.
For millennia a variety of North American bird species used bison hair during nest construction but when the “buffalo” was brought to the brink of extinction by hunters in the late 1800’s that resource was essentially gone. Today there are relatively few places where bison hair is available to birds and Antelope Island is one of them.
Western Meadowlarks are good subjects for practicing take-off shots. The rule of thumb is the smaller the bird the faster the take-off, so songbirds are difficult subjects for this type of shot because of their small size and quickness.
Last week we found ourselves at eye level with a small group of very wary Greater Sage Grouse.
After eight years of photographing birds it’s not every day that I see something new but yesterday I did.
When I first approached this adult Red-tailed Hawk twelve days ago on the north end of Antelope Island I had the distinct impression that it was enjoying the view over the Great Salt Lake from its lofty perch.
Six days ago on Antelope Island as I rounded a curve in the road I encountered this Burrowing Owl on a large rock with a clean setting and background. It was a cool morning and the sun had only recently come up so this bird was obviously enjoying the warming rays and showed no nervousness as I approached.
With its wings folded the plump, drab-plumaged Willet is brown and inconspicuous but a remarkable transformation takes place when those wings are opened.
Two days ago I was able to spend enough time with these wild horses in the west desert of Utah to begin to get a feeling for their complex social life.
Yesterday we had an incredible morning with a herd of wild horses in the west desert of Utah.
Northern Mockingbirds have three known courtship displays. I was able to photograph one of them, called the “flight display”, three days ago on Antelope Island.
For some reason I really enjoy being able to photograph a bird when its namesake habitat is obvious in the photo.
When I’m photographing Western Meadowlarks at take-off there’s always one flight posture I hope I don’t get.
