We had juvenile and adult Sharp-shinned hawks in our yard this week. The adult took a junco as prey and consumed it on the front walk right outside our front door. As a bird watcher it was both terrible and fascinating to watch. Observing the juvenile a few days earlier was much more peaceful  and gave us a good opportunity to closely study the markings, size and behaviors of a Sharp-shinned. It was a great way to really learn how to better distinguish this little fury from the Cooper's Hawks we sometime see around here as well. It was amazing to get up close and extended opportunities to see both juvenile and adult birds within days of each other in the exact same spot - all without leaving my warm living room.

I marvel at nature photographers who can get action shots of animals. I struggle just getting a bird sitting on a branch in focus. The raptors were so active today on Antelope Island, I decided to just try my hand at getting some flight shots. By pure luck I ended up with these shots (Rough-legged hawk soaring and a Northern Harrier taking to the air). My first self-learned lesson in raptor flight photos - don't photograph the bird, photograph the spot of sky where the bird WILL be and you just MIGHT actually end up with the subject in the frame. The next lesson will need to be how to focus on an in flight bird (tips welcome). I'll never be a Jerry Ligouri (whom I had the pleasure of meeting on a roadside a couple of weeks ago), but I'll just be happy to eventually capture some decent representation of the inspiring sight of a hawk in flight.

Rather than shopping the day after Thanksgiving we headed out birding with Tim Avery. In a pond next to the city dump this great little Common Goldeneye gave me a great look (I love the mirror reflection. A Rough-legged hawk sat nice for me too. We got 4 new life birds: Red-breasted Merganser, Horned grebe, Cackling goose and a Greater White-fronted goose. We never would have picked out those geese without Tim's expert eye.

We avoided the November cold and grey in Salt Lake City by heading south to St. George, Utah. A couple of days in this warm western desert on the Joshua Tree Road and Snow Canyon State Park gave me such an appreciation for stark beauty, the play of light on the desert and the abundance of life out there. We picked up 5 new life birds: Greater Roadrunner, Canyon Wren, Cactus Wren, Crissal Thrasher and Gambles Quail.

Picked up 2 new life-birds today on the Joshua Tree Road in extreme southern Utah.

- Greater Roadrunner

- Cactus Wren (one step closer to my dream of seeing every wren!)

Also saw:

- hundreds of White-crowned Sparrows

- House Finch

- Rock Wren

 - possible Bush Tits (just a quick look)

A Blue-headed Vireo got all the birders at Antelope Island excited today. It was a new life bird for us and a nice compliment to the life-bird Cassin's Vireo we saw last week. The Barn Owls came out and gave a nice showing. The thousands of birds around the island in September never cease to impress me and we usually pick up something new each year.

A hot August day on the Great Salt Lake had the Long-billed Curlews and White-faced Ibis cooling in the shallows, gorging on insects and I'm not quite sure what that Ibis is doing in the last shot, but I love the colors.