I wasn't the only person who noticed the huge murmuration of European Starlings at my local pond yesterday morning; other people stopped and admired them too.
Three days ago, I took this photo of a European Starling perched on top of a crabapple tree with a brilliant blue winter sky in the background at a city park.
This morning my subject is a European Starling in snow. I know some people hate these birds. I know some photographers won't raise their lens for them. I do.
Two days ago I was able to take photos of a male European Starling on three different perches just a few seconds apart in northern Utah.
The first bird I saw in 2021 was a European Starling perched on a power line on the road to my local grocery store about 8:15 am yesterday morning.
I have a backlog of raptor images I took earlier this week but I wanted to share one of a species that some people hate or many bird photographers prefer to ignore, the European Starling.
It's a simple European Starling image in what are complicated times and for me just looking at it is a respite from the news of the day.
When this European Starling perched in a Crabapple tree close to me during the snowstorm I was able to get a few photos of it before my hands started to hurt from the cold.
I thought I was going to go home without any frame filling bird photos until this European Starling flew in and landed next to the water.
Then the noise suddenly stopped and I saw the silhouette of a European Starling fly out of the tree with the Cooper's Hawk hot on its tail, literally.
Personally I am fascinated by European Starling murmurations, their interesting, beautiful plumage and how they can mimic the calls and songs of other birds.
Okay, that is enough for now, there are more birds that people love to hate but I can only deal with so much of it before I feel the need to get out and photograph all the birds I see, even those that other people despise.
I have an alternate title for this post which is "Invasive European Starlings perched on invasive Russian Olives" because both the birds in this post and the trees are not native but introduced.
I am so glad the American Bison were saved from extinction and that I see the Antelope Island State Park herd as often as I do.
I'm quite used to seeings birds and bison in close proximity on Antelope Island State Park not just during the warmer months but during the winter too.
November and December seem to be good months to see flocks of birds and American Bison together on Antelope Island State Park.
Yesterday was another interesting day on Antelope Island seeing snow-covered Bison, snowy weather, birds and spotting Coyotes at a Mule Deer carcass.
The light and clouds looked iffy this morning but Antelope Island didn't disappoint when it came to bison and birds plus some dramatic light.
I know a lot of people don't like European Starlings because they are in introduced species that cause lots of problems for native birds.
I love to get images of the American Bison and the Great Salt Lake in the same frame especially if there are mountains in the background so I was happy to get the snow covered Wasatch Mountains and the Great Salt Lake in this image
Oh, I meant Eagle in disguise, a European Starling. Couldn't resist.
Last week I was photographing shorebirds and a Chukar eating Brine flies on the shore of the Great Salt Lake when this European Starling flew in and started to eat them too.
Certain species of birds ride on the backs of Bison and feed on the insects they find in the Bison's fur; European Starlings are among those birds.
Since moving to Utah in the summer of 2009 I have wanted to get some images of an American Bison standing with the Great Salt Lake in the background.
Recently the USDA accepted responsibility for a smaller die off in South Dakota which brought to light a little known program called "Bye bye Blackbird" which uses DRC-1339, a poison that is also called an avicide.
One photographer might have better vision and be able to spot birds that the other person may not have seen. Four eyes are better than two.