Rough-legged Hawks

I've been mentioning these hawks and thought a close-up picture of one would be useful to those that haven't seen one (and those that just love seeing them).  So here you go.





The initial attraction for me in the refuge was the wildlife, and that is still a compelling draw.  Watching over the year and seeing the changes in types of birds, changes in the birds themselves (look at the difference between the breeding and non-breeding American Avocets, for example), and watching the interactions between the birds themselves is fascinating.  I've not yet seen a coyote, altho there is plenty of scat.  Persistence!!
Lately, I've been drawn more and more to the grasses and natural compositions of landscapes.  Especially in the fall, with the seeds ready to fly away, the grasses present another world.  Here's one of those worlds.

Herons and Hawks

Over the last couple of weeks, I've seen 4 to 6 hawks just outside the refuge - either in a field or on the power poles.  I think they are rough-legged hawks, but are hard to identify (for me) since the redtails have so many different permutations.

Mom and I caught this heron as we were leaving Sunday.  He started out letting us get kind of close, then kept moving 20 to 30 feet as we watched him.







Here's a classic picture that everyone sees when they come into the refuge from the North entrance - the dead limbs with a bird on them - in this case, it looks like a rough-legged.  In late January through February, the bald eagles sit here. 

Thousands of ducks

Up in the northern half of a large, shallow wet area are thousands of ducks at this time of year.  They gather there - I believe - because the hunters are elsewhere in the wetlands and this is a safe place for them.  Plus there is plenty of food.

So you'll see a lot of different kinds of ducks plus herons and other water birds on occasion.  And, for a photographer, the question is how do you show this multitude?  Unlike shooting cranes at Bosque, the ducks don't fly up in squadrons.  So I started small, with this shot.


Then expanded our view to this one.

Sunrise in the refuge

Murph and I got out to the refuge early today - although there were a lot of duck hunters there much earlier than us.  We walked for about 2.5 hours, flushed pheasants and a barn owl, got inspected by kestrels and a couple of Northern Harrier hawks, and mostly just enjoyed being out in the open spaces with the ever-changing sky and earth colors and shadows.  Here's a few of my favorites from the morning.

Creation

I've been going out to the Farmington Bay Wildlife Management Area (a state owned and managed wildlife refuge in Utah) for about 3 years.  It is a diamond sitting so close to the freeway and population centers, yet visited mainly by a few bird watchers and a lot of duck and geese hunters during the hunting season.  It enables access to over 17,000 acres of wetlands that provide the migrating wildlife a place to stop and rest, eat, have and raise their young in peace and safety.
As you visit any place regularly (and I'm normally only there about once per week, and I know there are others there much more often), you see the sameness and the differences in wildlife and the refuge itself.  I've been feeling the desire to keep a journal of what I have seen as my memory lacks much as a recall machine!  Perhaps this blog can act as a journal; I'd like to include pictures and comments from others that visit the refuge as space permits.  I've seen many people taking pictures with some pretty large lenses so I know that they must have a few good wildlife pictures.
Let's see how it goes.  Contact me if you wish to be included or share something about the refuge - gerrytj@mac.com.