![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/northern-shrike-6494-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern-shrike-6494-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nNorthern Shrikes and\u00a0Sagebrush Sparrows are far from everyday sightings for me.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Yesterday morning in northern Utah I\u00a0photographed my first Northern Shrike in a very long time. This is only a documentary shot because the bird was strongly and horribly sidelit but I was still happy to get it. This individual is a juvenile as evidenced by its brown\/red tones, scaled breast and paler bill. This bird must have been a recent arrival from the north country.<\/p>\n
In the 10+ years I’ve been photographing birds I’ve only seen a handful of Northern Shrikes.<\/p>\n
Loggerhead Shrikes are common in Utah\u00a0and are here year around (I photograph them often)\u00a0but the tundra-breeding Northern Shrike only visits Utah in winter and is much less common.<\/p>\n
The Northern Shrike is larger and has a more strongly hooked bill than its southern cousin and that allows it to take larger prey on average. Northerns regularly feed on mammals and\u00a0birds and those birds include some species\u00a0significantly\u00a0larger than themselves, including\u00a0robins, jays and doves.\u00a0Soon after this photo was taken this bird flew past me with a small\u00a0bird in its clutches. They truly are “wannabe raptors”.<\/p>\n
I often make the claim that I’m more of\u00a0a bird photographer\u00a0than a birder but sightings like this do bring out the birder in me.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/sagebrush-sparrow-3399b-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"sagebrush-sparrow-3399b-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n
Another species I seldom photograph or even see is the handsome Sagebrush Sparrow but I spent some time with this bird six days ago on Antelope Island (the following photos are all of the same bird). For years the Sagebrush Sparrow and the Bell’s Sparrow were known collectively as the Sage Sparrow but the American Ornithologist’s Union split them into two species in 2013.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/sagebrush-sparrow-3509-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"sagebrush-sparrow-3509-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\n
The poor little sparrow was extremely tolerant of my presence but a gang of mostly juvenile White-crowned Sparrows was harassing it mercilessly so it did its share of cowering. You’ll soon see evidence of why this bird was so wary.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It did come out in the open a few times which provided a better look at some of its markings including those two white forehead spots and\u00a0complete white eye-ring.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n When it turned on the\u00a0branch I got a good look at the entire bird. The\u00a0sparrow was quite relaxed\u00a0on this elevated and exposed perch\u00a0but it shouldn’t have been because..<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/sagebrush-sparrow-3678-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"sagebrush-sparrow-3678-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n