New World Sparrows & Allies

New World Sparrows are seed eating passerine birds with conical bills.

Wonderful Photo Session with a White-crowned Sparrow

By |June 13th, 2015|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, White-crowned Sparrows|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday was bright and sunny in the Centennial Valley and after hearing this White-crowned Sparrow singing I felt like breaking out in song too.

West Desert Medley of Birds

By |April 22nd, 2015|Categories: Birds, Cassin's Finches, Chipping Sparrows, Horned Larks, Red-tailed Hawks, Say's Phoebes, Spotted Towhees, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday was a delight in the West Desert because there were plentiful birds to photograph including this male Spotted Towhee singing on its territory.

Bird Images From New Years Day

By |January 2nd, 2015|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Northern Shovelers, Utah, White-crowned Sparrows|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Quartet of Sparrow Species

By |December 15th, 2014|Categories: American Tree Sparrows, Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Lincoln's Sparrows, Song Sparrows, Utah, White-crowned Sparrows|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Lately I've been able to photograph 4 different sparrow species between Antelope Island State Park and Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area.

Snow Birds – Dark-eyed Juncos

By |November 6th, 2014|Categories: Birds, Dark-eyed Juncos, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

When I lived in Virginia I could almost predict when the first snow would fall because the juncos showed at my feeders up a day or two before the first winter storm.

Looking ahead to winter

By |September 27th, 2014|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Common Ravens, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Lesser Scaups, Utah, White-crowned Sparrows|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

We catch up and share stories of birds we saw in the warmer months and reveal the journeys we have been on.

Interior West White-crowned Sparrow

By |September 19th, 2014|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, White-crowned Sparrows|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

Bird photography isn't easy and for smaller birds like this adult White-crowned Sparrow it can be challenging and require more patience than when photographing larger birds.

Centennial Valley Bathing Vesper Sparrows

By |September 15th, 2014|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, Vesper Sparrows|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

A Vesper Sparrow caught my eye last week as it fluttered and fluffed on an old barb wire fence near the road and I just had to photograph it.

White-crowned Sparrow perched on a frosty shrub

By |January 21st, 2014|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah, White-crowned Sparrows|Tags: , , , , , , , |

I like the setting contained in this image with a frost covered branches of a shrub with reddish bark that the White-crowned Sparrow perched on close to the entrance to Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area.

White-crowned Sparrows with Frost and Fluff

By |December 12th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah, White-crowned Sparrows|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

One of the food items that White-crowned Sparrows depend on during the harsh winters in Utah are the fluffy seeds of the Rabbitbrush that can be covered in hoar frost.

Song Sparrow on a bitter cold winter day

By |December 10th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Song Sparrows, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday the lowest temperature I saw at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area was -12F which reinforces the thought that "bird photography isn't for everyone" and that winters in Utah are hard on the birds.

White-crowned Sparrow on a rusty wire fence

By |September 14th, 2013|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, White-crowned Sparrows|Tags: , , , , , , |

In the Centennial Valley of Montana at this time of the year I see plenty of White-crowned Sparrows of the interior west sub-species and although most of them that I see are juveniles there are also adults hanging around foraging too.

Green-tailed Towhee high up on Bountiful Canyon

By |July 24th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Green-tailed Towhees, Sky Line Drive, Bountiful Canyon, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Last week while heading up the Skyline Drive of Bountiful Canyon this Green-tailed Towhee was singing on top of a shrub and I was surprised when it hung around for about 2 minutes

Alaska Basin journey in Montana and Idaho

By |June 22nd, 2013|Categories: Alaska Basin, Beaverhead County, Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, Birds, Fremont County, Idaho, Montana, Targhee National Forest, Uinta Ground Squirrels, Vesper Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, Wildflowers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Earlier this week I was enthralled to see the Alaska Basin that straddles Idaho and Montana and winds through Beaverhead National Forest and Targhee National Forest.

Lark Sparrow behaviors and a Grasshopper

By |June 14th, 2013|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Lark Sparrows, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

It was great to get back out into the field yesterday and even better that there were some cooperative Lark Sparrows in my viewfinder.

Potpourri Of Birds From This Week

By |May 25th, 2013|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, California Gulls, Chukars, Clark's Grebes, Davis County, Eastern Kingbirds, Forster's Terns, Lark Sparrows, Mourning Doves, Tooele County, Utah, Yellow-headed Blackbirds|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

These are but a few of the birds I photographed this week in various Utah locations and all of them made great subjects!

Flaming Gorge Brewer’s Sparrow

By |May 19th, 2013|Categories: Antelope Flat, Birds, Brewer's Sparrows, Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Brewer's Sparrows were abundant at the location where I photographed Ospreys close to the Flaming Gorge Reservoir last week and it seemed like they sang every time they popped up on top of the Sagebrush in the area.

A Lark, Or Two, Or Four

By |April 5th, 2013|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Beaverhead County, Birds, Davis County, Horned Larks, Lark Buntings, Lark Sparrows, Montana, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Tooele County, Utah, Western Meadowlarks|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The only native true lark that lives and breeds in North America is the Horned Lark.

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