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<\/p>\nYesterday was full of pleasant surprises. And one not so pleasant.<\/p>\n
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Late yesterday morning I found four, possibly five, Swainson’s Hawks – all found within a small area in northern Utah. I’ve been keeping my eyes peeled for migrating Swainson’s Hawks for the last several weeks but like many birds their migration seems to have been delayed by our unusually snowy and cold early spring weather.<\/p>\n
A raptor on a utility pole is a type of photo I rarely take, much less post to my blog. But I’ll make an exception for my FOY (first of year) Swainson’s Hawk. In a heartbeat.<\/p>\n
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One of them was a dark morph that was perched on a fence post with its back to me, so of course it took off away from me. But when it curled around to my left in flight I was able to get this photo and a few others that were nearly broadside. At least I got a good head turn slightly toward me.<\/p>\n
I drove a lot of miles yesterday that included four hours of actively searching for birds and I never saw any Swainson’s Hawks except for this cluster of four or five birds in a small area. So perhaps they’re migrating together.<\/p>\n
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Later that morning I was in for another fun surprise – a group of three Ospreys that were actively and very successfully fishing one of the several ponds I visited. At first I had no idea there were any Ospreys in the area.<\/p>\n
So imagine this:<\/p>\n
While I was slowly driving near the water on my left I saw an Osprey with a fish land high atop a utility pole on my right and in poor light. I was excited to see an Osprey so I stopped my pickup, opened the door and got out, and watched the Osprey through my lens that was propped over the top of my pickup cab. I didn’t take any photos in the poor light with a wire in front of the bird.<\/p>\n
Suddenly I was startled by a very loud and explosive sound coming from the water right behind me. It was so loud and unexpected it made me jump. It sounded like something hard hitting something else hard at high speed, almost like a crash of some kind.<\/p>\n
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The noise, which sounded like a loud, hard slap rather than a splash, was caused by this Osprey when it dove on a fish and hit the water at high speed very close behind me. By the time I got my lens on the Osprey it was far away but the photo shows that it had a fish in its talons.<\/p>\n
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This shot was taken when it eventually curled around to land on top of one of the utility poles so it could enjoy its meal, in bad light of course. If you look closely you can see part of the tail of the fish.<\/p>\n
There were times when I could see two or even all three Osprey cruising over the pond at the same time but by then it was late in the morning and the sun was high in the sky so I’m not pleased with most of my flight shots.<\/p>\n
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There were a couple of other utility poles that had a little better light on the Ospreys when they would use them as dining tables. When I took this shot there was another Osprey with a fish on another pole behind and to the left of this one.<\/p>\n
This may look like an interesting pose, and it is, but it also makes me angry. The pose is a startle reaction caused by the very loud, sharp and unexpected bang of a gun. A group of men about 125 yards from me had begun shooting a pistol at the water’s surface. Their shooting angle on the water was such that the bullets would bounce off the water in a ricochet, then tumble through the air causing a very loud, high-pitched whirring noise. That noise apparently entertained the shooters so they did it again and again.<\/p>\n
I was not amused and neither were the Ospreys trying to enjoy their late breakfasts on the poles.<\/p>\n
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After a few pistol shots the annoyed Osprey on the other pole took off and flew with its fish to a different pole much further away. I got this photo when it flew past me.<\/p>\n
I wish I’d arrived at the pond earlier in the morning when the light was better. I told Mia where to find the Ospreys so at some point before they move on maybe she’ll have better luck with Osprey photos when the light isn’t so harsh. As for me, my bad back may not allow that much time in the saddle (pickup seat) again anytime soon.<\/p>\n
Ron<\/p>\n
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Yesterday was full of pleasant surprises. And one not so pleasant. (6 photos)<\/p>\n