Swans, Ducks and Geese

Gulls, Ducks and Geese in a Snow Storm

By |January 22nd, 2017|Categories: Birds, California Gulls, Canada Geese, Common Goldeneyes, Mallards, Redheads, Ring-billed Gulls, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I spent about 40 minutes photographing the gulls, ducks and geese in the snow storm here in northern Utah yesterday and had a lot of fun doing it.

Possible Name Change for Ring-necked Duck to Ring-billed Duck

By |January 20th, 2017|Categories: Birds, Ring-necked Ducks, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

In 2017 one of the proposals submitted to the AOS is to rename Ring-necked Ducks to Ring-billed Ducks and I personally am all for the name change!

Common Goldeneyes Have Started Their Courtship Displays

By |January 4th, 2017|Categories: Birds, Common Goldeneyes, Salt Lake Valley, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I'm seeing plenty of goldeneyes around right now and I have also begun to see the male Common Goldeneyes performing their courtship displays.

Mallard Hen Caught in a Ring-billed Gull Feeding Frenzy

By |January 3rd, 2017|Categories: Birds, Mallards, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

I noticed a Mallard hen and was watching and photographing her when the gulls swarmed around her like bees do honey and caught her immediately after a Ring-billed Gull grabbed her bread right out of her bill.

Looking at 2016 in the Rear View Mirror or My Photographic Year in Review

By |December 31st, 2016|Categories: American Barn Owls, American Bitterns, American Pipits, Bald Eagles, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Beaverhead County, Belted Kingfishers, Birds, Box Elder County, Burrowing Owls, Centennial Valley, Clark County, Davis County, Double-crested Cormorants, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Great Horned Owls, High Uintas, Hybrid Geese, Idaho, Leucistic, Montana, Peregrine Falcons, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Red-naped Sapsuckers, Red-tailed Hawks, Salt Lake County, Short-eared Owls, Summit County, Targhee National Forest, Tooele County, Turkey Vultures, Utah, Wayne County, Western Bluebirds, Wilson's Phalaropes, Woodhouse's Scrub-Jays, Yellow-bellied Marmots|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Wow, today is the last day of the year 2016. This is my photographic year in review from Utah, Idaho and Montana!

Hidden Face On A Domestic Mallard

By |December 23rd, 2016|Categories: Birds, Domestic Ducks, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

Ten days ago I photographed a manky mallard at my local pond and when I pulled images of it up on my monitor I discovered that it has a hidden "face" and once I saw it I couldn't un-see it. Do you see it?

Canada Goose Lift Off Series Plus More Photos of the Canada x Snow Goose Hybrid

By |December 21st, 2016|Categories: Birds, Canada Geese, Hybrid Geese, Salt Lake County, Snow Geese, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday morning at my local pond I took a series of images of a Canada Goose lifting off plus more photos of the Canada x Snow Goose hybrid I found there.

Common Merganser hunting close up in Salt Lake County, Utah

By |December 20th, 2016|Categories: Birds, Common Mergansers, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Two days ago I was surprised by being able to photograph a Common Merganser hunting close to the shoreline of a nearby pond in Salt Lake County.

Canada x Snow Goose Hybrid – Its Parentage Had Bewildered Me

By |December 18th, 2016|Categories: Birds, Canada Geese, Hybrid Geese, Salt Lake County, Snow Geese, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

This Canada Goose hybrid could be a Canada x Snow Goose or a Canada x Greater White-fronted Goose hybrid, those two species make the most sense to me, but I can't be certain of its parentage.

Male Common Goldeneye in Breeding Plumage on the Jordan River

By |December 16th, 2016|Categories: Birds, Common Goldeneyes, Jordan River Parkway Trail, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I photographed this male Common Goldeneye in breeding plumage on the Jordan River in Salt Lake County, Utah in low light on a cold morning.

Redhead Drakes

By |December 12th, 2016|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Redheads, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

This Redhead drake photographed at the refuge in his breeding plumage sure stood out well from the water that was reflecting the spring growth of rushes and phragmites.

Common Goldeneyes plus one Common Raven

By |December 8th, 2016|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Common Goldeneyes, Common Ravens, Davis County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I had fun photographing the Common Raven and the Common Goldeneyes yesterday and even though the cold temps made my fingers numb, these birds were the highlight of my day.

Waiting For The Impending Arrival of Tundra Swans in Northern Utah

By |October 18th, 2016|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Tundra Swans, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge hosts up to 13,000 Tundra Swans during November through December where they utilize the freshwater wetland habitats on the refuge.

Birds of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge – Celebrating National Wildlife Refuge Week

By |October 9th, 2016|Categories: American Avocets, American Barn Owls, American White Pelicans, Bald Eagles, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Black-crowned Night Herons, Black-necked Stilts, Box Elder County, Redheads, Rough-legged Hawks, Sandhill Cranes, Tree Swallows, Tundra Swans, Utah, Virginia Rails, Western Grebes, White-faced Ibises|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

This is National Wildlife Refuge Week and in celebration I wanted to do a pictorial essay that includes some of my images of the Birds of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.

Northern Shoveler Drake and Hen

By |October 2nd, 2016|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Northern Shovelers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

This beautiful Northern Shoveler drake in breeding plumage was photographed in one of those no hunting areas on New Years Day 2015 at Farmington Bay.

Red-breasted Merganser floating on the Gulf of Mexico

By |September 14th, 2016|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Red-breasted Mergansers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I photographed this Red-breasted Merganser floating on the Gulf of Mexico on an April morning from the shoreline at Fort De Soto, Florida in April of 2008.

Photographing Pelicans, Herons, Egrets and Geese in Flight in Rapidly Changing Light

By |August 8th, 2016|Categories: American White Pelicans, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Canada Geese, Great Blue Herons, Snowy Egrets, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I had a great deal of fun photographing the pelicans, herons, egrets and geese in flight in the rapidly changing light yesterday morning at Bear River MBR.

Tundra Swans Lifting Off from Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

By |February 27th, 2016|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Tundra Swans, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Watching and photographing the Tundra Swans lifting off from Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge yesterday was slightly bittersweet for me because I know they will soon be heading north to mate.

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