I found and photographed this female Merlin at my local pond last month, and she seemed to be the perfect bird for me to share on International Women's Day.
I was at one of my local ponds yesterday morning when a gorgeous adult female Merlin flew in and landed on a tree not far from where I stood behind my tripod.
Little did I know that on my last trip up into the Wasatch Mountains, that I would witness a battle between a Belted Kingfisher and my first-of-season Merlin.
When I viewed this American Kestrel photo my first thought was if this isn't a "get off my lawn look" then I have never seen a get off my lawn look from anyone.
I spent a few moments photographing a gorgeous female American Kestrel on a tree top yesterday morning at Farmington Bay WMA.
On this last day of the year it is time for my annual 2022 Year in Review post. In some ways 2022 has been great for me and in others not so good.
I photographed this Christmas Day American Kestrel in 2020 at Farmington Bay WMA. That Christmas Day was bright and sunny, today isn't going to be at all.
I was thrilled to have this female American Kestrel in my neighborhood and viewfinder after an overnight snow fell two days ago.
One of the birds I photographed yesterday at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge was an adult male Prairie Merlin that I spotted on a fence post close to the road.
On the 3rd of December I spotted a small, colorful shape from a distance in a Russian Olive tree and knew immediately that I had found a male American Kestrel.
Last week I spotted a Merlin perched on a large wooden post way out in the marsh at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in northern Utah.
I noticed in my Facebook memories that four years ago this morning was when I found my first of season Merlin out on the mudflats at Farmington Bay WMA.
Last week before I found the Rock Wren I wrote about I also found a subadult Peregrine Falcon perched on a wooden post in the West Desert.
Yesterday morning I was able to take female American Kestrel photos from the causeway to Antelope Island State Park twice.
Two recent posts on Facebook inspired me to write about male American Kestrel chest plumage variation and to share six images of male kestrels photographed here in Utah.
At the end of my trip to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge on January 6th the last bird I photographed was an adult male American Kestrel.
This is my 2020 photographic year in review. I'm selecting some of my favorite photos from 2020 and a few that just make me happy to see them.
Much to my delight I was able to photograph some birds on Christmas Day at Farmington Bay WMA yesterday morning.
Three days ago I had one minute with a beautiful adult female American Kestrel and her partially eaten prey at Farmington Bay WMA.
I was only going to share this image today but as I processed this photo I thought about all the times I have photographed American Kestrels on this same exact post over the years.
Any time I can see and photograph two falcon species in a single day is a great day and yesterday I photographed a Prairie Merlin and several American Kestrels.
It isn't everyday that I can take photos of a Peregrine Falcon in Red Rock Country so I'm very glad I spotted this one and was able to get a few images it.
While this male American Kestrel struggled to maintain his grip on the thin branches of the Tamarisk I struggled to keep him in my viewfinder.
It is still dark here in northern Utah but I can tell there is some fresh snow on the ground so I guess that makes this a white Christmas even if the white stuff melts before the sun comes up over the mountains.
I was delighted when I spotted this female American Kestrel perched high on a crabapple tree next to a road near the Jordan River and pleased that she stuck around for a few photos.
In my experience Merlins are already hard to find in the state of Utah but because of our climate crisis they could become even more difficult to locate or they might even disappear from the state altogether.
There isn't a single day in the field where I take my eyesight and my keen spotting abilities for granted and yesterday those attributes netted me not one but two Merlins while I was at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
I took a long series of photos of this male American Kestrel in a tree at Farmington Bay WMA back in January and decided that I liked these two photos of the kestrel the best.
So back to the question of what birds will this New Year bring? The ones I get out and find of course.
All in all, as 2018 comes to a close I realize how fortunate I am to see all the birds that I do throughout the year as a bird photographer, to be able to do what I love and to love my feathered subjects too.