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.