Utah, Spring 2010: The Wildlife

During our weeklong stay at the cabin in Kanab, we notice an albino raptor of some kind hanging out on ridge above our rental. The cabin owner tells us he's been watching this bird for several weeks now, and that he is sure it's a hawk of some kind. My camera's zoom lens isn't powerful enough to get a clear image of the bird, despite my best efforts. However, a good pair of binoculars display what is clearly a hawk-sized raptor. About four days into our stay, the albino bird is joined by a second adult hawk. I'm lucky enough to be watching the albino bird with my binoculars when the second hawk flies in to land. I get a clear view it -- it's a redtail and the two birds appear to be mated, judging by the number of hours they spend on the ridge together for the rest of the week.


With the naked eye, the albino bird might be a scrap of paper


The bird's general shape is recognizable with the zoom lens, though the details aren't clear.


In this photo, the two birds can be seen perched in a tree at the highest point of the ridge


The pair is still indistinct with the 10x zoom, but it's easy to see that there are two birds in the tree.

See some four-legged wildlife
Back to Utah Vacation index
Home