Bathing Common Merganser at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge
There isn't much open water right now but in a few places where it is open it attracts waterfowl including this bathing Common Merganser male in breeding plumage.
There isn't much open water right now but in a few places where it is open it attracts waterfowl including this bathing Common Merganser male in breeding plumage.
It is interesting to see this whirlpool effect of Northern Shovelers on the surface of the Great Salt Lake and to hear the sounds of their bills dabbling in the water.
I think I am as excited as this Canada Goose calling in the snow that I photographed in February of 2013 along the causeway to Antelope Island State Park.
I photographed this Redhead hen yesterday morning at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge as she floated on the Bear River.
Canada Geese are very common here in northern Utah and in other parts of North America.
There has only been a few times that I have had the opportunity to get a Red-breasted Merganser portrait and each time it occurred in Florida.
Last December on the way off of Antelope Island I saw huge flocks of Northern Shovelers feeding on the Great Salt Lake and liked how they appeared through my viewfinder.
When I came across the Canvasback drake on a frigid February morning at a pond near where I live I simply had to get a few images of him.
I haven't posted any Common Mergansers lately and today I thought I would because we should start seeing them soon here in northern Utah.
We've still been having record breaking high temperatures here in northern Utah but the forecast shows some cooler weather is about to arrive. I'm glad. It is about time.
Last autumn I was able to get up close to a drake Greater Scaup at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and I'm hoping that I see more of them this year.
I've been thinking about this upcoming winter wondering if we will get a normal amount of snow and of course about the birds I will see on cold mornings at Farmington Bay.
The Redheads at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge are getting closer to being in their breeding plumage which they normally show from October through June.
In my last post on the Trumpeter Swan Cygnets On Elk Lake I mentioned that the cygnets spent a lot of time preening and part of the reason they do is they are molting.
I am totally enamored by Trumpeter Swans, they are not only graceful and beautiful but the adults seem like such caring parents and keep an ever watchful eye on their young.
Yesterday at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I was able to photograph a Mallard drake as it lifted off from the water on the south side of the auto tour loop.
Over the past couple of weeks I have noticed that Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge is getting duckier. I am seeing more ducks in the water and flying over head now than I had in July.
Yesterday I posted a juvenile Wilson's Phalarope and today I am posting an assortment of others birds I photographed the same day at Bear River NWR.
Sometimes after a period of high activity I simply need to rest and relax or duck out into nature's wild grandeur to refresh.
One thing I know for certain is that we can't drink dust.
Last week I posted some Tundra Swan images and mentioned that two of the swans I saw had markers on their necks, these are those swans flying together over the marsh.
I spent part of my morning yesterday being serenaded by the calls of thousands of Tundra Swans at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in northern Utah.
This series of Ruddy Duck images took just a little less than 8 seconds and then she tucked her bill back under her scapular and closed her eyes again.
Last February; when there was actually snow on the ground, I photographed a pair of Redhead ducks at a pond near where I live.
On the way out of the refuge in an area I have heard called Curlew Flats I spotted this juvenile Northern Harrier on the ground and was able to take a few images of it before it lifted off with prey in its talons.
One of the locations I am daydreaming about is the Centennial Valley of Montana and the birds I find there.
Maybe when the weather clears tomorrow I'll be able to get back out Farmington Bay to photograph more birds.
I wasn't expecting much from the images but to my delight I liked the effect of the white Tundra Swans on the pure white snow.
I spent the yesterday morning photographing with two great friends at Antelope Island State Park and Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area and had a wonderful time.
It was chilly but bright yesterday morning and there were bluebird skies overhead and Antelope Island State Park beckoned and I of course heeded that call.