Yesterday we found this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk perched on one of the darker Farmington Canyon Complex rocks on Antelope Island. I thought the generally light coloration of this bird to be slightly unusual but I’m certainly no expert on the color phases and morphs of this highly variable species.
Yesterday morning I found this Willet perched on one of the Tintic Quartzite boulders so common on the northern part of Antelope Island. The Willets are still active on the higher slopes of the island but it won’t be long until they’re spending most of their time along the shoreline and causeway.
Every bird photographer has horror stories about potentially great opportunities with birds that were ruined to some degree or another by miserable shooting conditions. Well I met my match on my recent trip to Flaming Gorge.
We returned home Thursday after spending three wonderful days camping at Flaming Gorge in NE Utah. This is very close to the view we had on most mornings from our campsites (two of them), though this image was taken the morning before the Osprey photo, below. As you’ll see, the lighting conditions were dramatically different…
I don’t often get close enough to Ferruginous Hawks for decent photos but this one seemed curious about me and flew in just close enough.
The bird was so enthusiastic about its morning stretch that it even stood on its toes at the end (reminded me of some people when they stretch).
Willets aren’t flashy birds but right now they’re very conspicuous on Antelope Island because they’ve come up higher on the slopes for their spring mating activities.
As a result of its secretive nature the Green-tailed Towhee is one of the least well-known of all North American birds.
Yesterday morning I found this Western Meadowlark perched up high, in pretty good light and with a clean background so I couldn’t resist firing away.
I heard some very good news on the Barn Owl front recently. Hawkwatch International reports that a pair of Barn Owls has taken up residence in one of the kestrel nest boxes that HI keeps an eye on and they have laid 5 eggs!
Sometimes a single bird saves the day for the bird photographer. That was exactly the case last Wednesday.
Last week we spent a few days camping and exploring Utah’s west desert. A herd of Mule Deer composed of over a dozen animals hung around the general vicinity of our campsite for most of the time we were there. They still had most of their winter coat so they were scruffy and sun-bleached but they displayed a couple of interesting behaviors that I was able to photograph.
I’ve mentioned before how very reluctant Chukars are to fly. They much prefer to scurry away through the grasses whenever they feel insecure or threatened.
And that reluctance also applies when they’re ready to leave an elevated perch. They’ll nearly always find a way to scramble down a big rock rather than fly from it like most other birds would. That tendency was demonstrated to me twice yesterday morning on Antelope Island.
The Gray Partridge has a fairly limited range in North America and most folks don’t get to see them so I thought some of my readers might be interested in a post on the species. This bird prefers the grasslands and grainfields of our northern wheat-belt so they’re fairly common on our family farm in northwest Montana.
Gray Partridges are often called Hungarian Partridges, or “Huns” for short.
I’m primarily a bird photographer but when I’m in the field I do see other types of wildlife and I’m not hesitant to photograph them in the least.
