Coyote populations on Antelope Island have declined dramatically over the last few years and recent disturbing events had some of us wondering if Utah State Parks was practicing predator control on the island. Yesterday afternoon I was on a mission to find out.
And speculation about the reason for an apparent recent decline in the Antelope Island coyote population.
I often have great difficulty approaching Short-eared Owls but this probable male seemed glued to his perch.
It isn’t often that I can stay locked on to a bird in flight for this many images after takeoff.
Yesterday was a good day for raptors in western Utah County as I was able to chalk up eight species.
Several summers ago this juvenile Swainson’s Hawk in southwest Montana allowed me to photograph it performing some interesting behaviors.
Two days ago I photographed a pair of coyotes up close as they hunted voles along the Antelope Island causeway.
I haven’t been able to get close to many male American Kestrels recently but at least I’m seeing a few of them now. They were alarmingly scarce all summer.
One afternoon on our latest Montana trip we decided to do a little “sploring” (as we call it) and investigate some country new to us so we spent several hours cruising the back roads on the south side of the Centennial Mountains. We found a beautiful mountain valley very close to the continental divide that provided a variety of habitats but few birds.
But it did give me my best photographic opportunity ever with a Montana coyote.
I’ve reported previously on this blog that Barn Owl populations took a huge hit this past winter in northern Utah. It was dreadfully cold for much of the winter with lots of snow. Normally that’s not a huge problem for these owls but with deep snow on the ground we had a warm spell that melted the surface of the snow and immediately after that we had an extended cold snap. Those conditions caused a hard crust of ice to form on the snow surface that lasted for weeks.
Christmas Morning at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge was nothing short of spectacular. We had great light, wonderfully clear blue skies and lots of birds. And it was cold – as low as 6 degrees F. Perfect! On this trip (which included the Promontory Point area) we saw a plethora of raptors – Bald and Golden Eagles, Red-tailed Hawks, Rough-legged Hawks, American Kestrels, Short-eared Owls, a Prairie Falcon and one Barn Owl hunting in daylight because of the cold. And I’ve never seen as many Great Blue Herons in one relatively small area as I did on that morning. Just before I stopped to take this photo there were over 100 of them on the ice of the canal to the right and along the far bank in less than 1/3 mile – which led to a topic of conversation. Mia is from Florida and we discussed how seeing Great Blue Herons on snow and ice seems incongruous to many folks from warmer climates. That conversation was the inspiration for this post. 1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 400, 500 f/4, natural light As is typical for western herons, these birds were difficult to approach (in some areas like Florida one can almost walk up and touch them at times). This juvenile was fishing in a patch of flowing water surrounded by ice and snow. 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 400, 500 f/4, natural light Then the same bird flew off and then came back to land within a few feet of where it had been fishing – almost like it was…
If you think this coyote looks befuddled, you’re right. 1/1250, f/7.1/, ISO 400, 100-400 @115mm As it crossed the road right in front of me (about two weeks ago) it suddenly stopped in complete bewilderment because it could feel something on the left side of its neck, but when it turned to investigate the young coyote apparently couldn’t see what it was because the object was too close to its head and it was hidden in the crease of the neck. 1/1250, f/7.1/, ISO 400, 100-400 @115mm The offending object was a clump of grass which I could finally see when the coyote was able to nudge the bottom of the clump with its jaw and push it up where it was visible. 1/1650, f/7.1/, ISO 400, 100-400 @115mm The youngster finally got the grass clump pulled away from its fur, held it for a few moments in triumph and then unceremoniously dropped it and continued across the road… 1/800, f/6.3/, ISO 400, 100-400 @180mm where it captured a vole in less than two minutes. 1/640, f/5.6/, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc About a week ago I found this coyote staring at me in the early morning light. I love this warm light in the grassy setting. To me it almost looks like the coyote is smiling at me. 1/640, f/7.1/, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc And on the same morning, about 20 minutes later, another coyote crossed the road in front of me and proceeded to…
