Blue Jay Looking Right At Me
I spent years being Blue Jay deprived, so I am really relishing seeing, hearing, and photographing them now. Having Blue Jays in my viewfinder is truly a joy!
I spent years being Blue Jay deprived, so I am really relishing seeing, hearing, and photographing them now. Having Blue Jays in my viewfinder is truly a joy!
Happy Halloween! 🎃 Today, I’m sharing a black-and-white photo of a Common Raven calling out from a snowy mound with the Great Salt Lake stretched behind.
When I had this young Blue Jay in my viewfinder, I could clearly see that it was immature. The pin feathers and new growth told me everything I needed to know.
I had a blast taking these Blue Jay images at Steve Creek's home in Arkansas. Soon after the bluebirds fledged, the jays felt safe to come into the feeders.
There are times when I take a photo, upload it to my computer, open it to view it on my screen, and my breath gets taken away. This Blue Jay portrait did that.
This isn't my typical idea of a Common Raven photo because the raven's face can't be seen. But I like this photo of the raven about to land on the frozen marsh.
It was my first full spring in Utah, nearly 14 years ago, when my keen eyes were used to find my first Black-billed Magpie nest on Antelope Island State Park.
This morning, I'm sharing three portraits of an American Crow, two of which include the very pale, nearly icy-blue nictitating membrane that these crows have.
Three years ago today, I photographed this adult Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay from my living room window. The jay was in a neighbor's spruce tree across the street.
My first bird of the year for 2024 was a Common Raven I found yesterday morning on my way out to the auto tour loop of Bear River MBR.
Lately, I've been wondering what the new name for the Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay species, that I photograph here in Utah, will be when it is changed in 2024.
On at least my last three trips up to Bear River MBR, I have found a Common Raven pair in the same general area of the north side of the auto tour route.
While I was driving the auto tour route at Bear River MBR two days ago, I was tickled to photograph a roadside Common Raven in lovely, bright morning light.
I enjoyed photographing this molting, shaggy immature Common Raven yesterday morning while I was high in the Wasatch Mountains.
This morning, I am sharing young and adult Blue Jay photos that I took from my dear friend Steve Creek's deck while I was staying with him in Arkansas.
Given how odd spring has been for me personally, it seemed appropriate for me to photograph a young Blue Jay hanging upside down on the first day of summer.
For some people, a Blue Jay portrait might be a common image to capture, but for me, it's not common at all. This particular one was taken in Arkansas, not Utah.
If you don't know much about Common Ravens you might wonder why I selected them to be the featured love birds on this Valentine's Day.
To my delight, I heard and saw hundreds of American Crows at Farmington Bay WMA on my visit there early yesterday morning. The crows were great company.
This morning I'm sharing two photos of the same Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay perched in the West Desert on the same juniper with two different backgrounds.
My birding by ear affliction isn't that I can't hear birds; it is that I can't not hear them. Even when I am on the phone with my friends.
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.
This morning I'm sharing photos of five bird species that I find on ice during the coldest months of the year in marsh and urban locations.
The fog was so thick yesterday morning that I decided to stay near home and focus on urban birds. My first one of the day was an American Crow in a parking lot.
Last Friday I found this Black-billed Magpie perched in a serviceberry shrub high in the mountains and stopped to take photos of the young bird.
Today I am sharing two American Crow portraits that I took this morning near the water's edge at Farmington Bay WMA.
Earlier this week as I drove slowly around the auto tour route at Bear River MBR I was able to take a short series of Common Raven photos as they played on the ice.
I was looking through my archives yesterday when I came across this immature Black-billed Magpie portrait taken at sunrise on Antelope Island State Park.
It was a very memorable first of year sighting of these Rough-legged Hawks. The kind where you sit there wondering if you really saw what you saw.
My eyes and my birding instincts didn't lead me astray because there was a Clark's Nutcracker perched at the top of the fir.