Sagebrush Sparrow adultAdult Sagebrush Sparrow – Nikon D200, handheld, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 250, Nikkor 70-300mm VR at 300mm, natural light

Some women wish for diamonds, some men wish for fast cars while young children might wish for a pony or a trip to Disney. Me? I wish for birds. Pretty simple, huh? But it is true.

My mother wishes she could win the lottery (who doesn’t?). There are people who wish they lived in a mansion and those who wish they wouldn’t get old. Santa gets his share of wish lists too.

Seeing & photographing birds gives me joy, peace, excitement, thrills and breath-taking moments.

For instance, I wish the Sagebrush Sparrow above had been closer and had turned its head towards me more. I went out to Antelope Island State Park last fall with some non-photographers so I took my Nikkor 70-300mm VR with me instead of my longer lens, that was my mistake and I did not have enough focal length to get the shots I wanted. I wish I had taken the 200-400mm VR.

Some of the birds on my wish list I have yet to photograph plus there are those I have photographed but the bird may have been too far away, or the light sucked or I messed up the shots.

My bird wish list for Utah, Montana, Idaho and surrounding areas this spring and summer is too long to write out here but as long as I am wishing I would love to photograph Whooping Cranes, Garganeys and a California Condor or two.

I dream big and I’m always optimistic.

On serious note though I wish I’d see some American Dippers because they are daring little birds who swim in fast flowing, rocky streams for food which fascinates me. Or Black-tailed Gnatcatchers which I have seen and photographed in southern Utah but I couldn’t get a single clear shot of the fast moving little bugger! Long-eared Owls have evaded me thus far too along with the handsome Great Gray Owls. Maybe I’ll spot the Great Gray in Montana some time or the tiny Northern Saw-whet Owl. One never knows.

I wish that I’d have more opportunities with the always impressive Ferruginous Hawks (I just love saying Ferruginous!) or Golden Eagles.

Funny how coming across one poor image of a Sage Sparrow has my head spinning today with wishes for more. But I know that as long as I am wishing for birds that I am rarely disappointed.

Mia

PS: One more wish, I wish there were enough hours in the day so I could get caught up on editing some of the thousands of images I’ve already taken!