Birds

Birds that I find in the field, photograph and share the stories behind the images.

Nesting Osprey pair at Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area

By |February 22nd, 2013|Categories: Birds, Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, Ospreys, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

It is cloudy and snowing hard outside this morning so I dug into my files and edited these nesting Osprey images I took last year at Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area in Utah.

A juvenile Red-tailed Hawk fly by

By |February 21st, 2013|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Just a simple juvenile Red-tailed Hawk this morning that I took last year on Antelope Island State Park as it flew past me with the dark Farmington complex rocks in the background.

Brown Pelicans on the Gulf of Mexico

By |February 20th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Brown Pelicans, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

The forecast is calling for snow today and there is already a heavy cloud cover so looked back through my files and found some Brown Pelican images taken on a warm February morning in Florida to post today.

High Key winter Geese, Swans and a Black-billed Magpie

By |February 16th, 2013|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Black-billed Magpies, Canada Geese, Davis County, Tundra Swans, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Some people might not find high key photos to their tastes but I find that I enjoy them because of their simplicity and how the high key background allows my eyes to focus clearly on my subject's form and beauty.

Roseate Spoonbill and Wood Stork Size Comparison

By |February 15th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Roseate Spoonbills, Wood Storks|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

This photo shows a Roseate Spoonbill and Wood Stork on the shoreline of a tidal lagoon at Fort De Soto County Park in Florida and it shows how the Wood Stork can dwarf the Roseate Spoonbill in height.

Sandwich Terns – Love is in the air

By |February 14th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Sandwich Terns|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I can recall clearly the day I took this photograph of Sandwich Terns mating, I was sitting very low in a tidal lagoon on the north beach of Fort De Soto County Park in Florida, it was very warm and the water of the lagoon felt great on my skin when these two terns started a breeding display.

Great Blue Herons In Florida And Utah

By |February 13th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Great Blue Herons, Pinellas County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Great Blue Herons are year round residents in both Florida and Utah although conditions during the winter months can be starkly different for these large wading birds in the two locations and climates.

More American Barn Owl images

By |February 11th, 2013|Categories: American Barn Owls, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Perched American Barn Owl images might not be as dynamic as those when the owl's are in flight but I enjoy them just as much as I do those with more action.

Short-eared Owl in a fog

By |February 9th, 2013|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Short-eared Owls, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Isn't this Short-eared Owl lovely with her big yellow eyes? It had been a while since I had seen a Short-eared Owl and I was quite surprised when I spotted her on top of some snow-covered Rabbitbrush late last month along the causeway to Antelope Island State Park.

Western Tanager male at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge

By |February 7th, 2013|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Western Tanagers|Tags: , , , , , , , |

This Western Tanager was photographed last summer at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in the Centennial Valley of Beaverhead County, Montana.

Some of the Birds I Love at Bear River National Wildlife Refuge

By |February 6th, 2013|Categories: American Avocets, American Barn Owls, American White Pelicans, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Black-crowned Night Herons, Black-necked Stilts, Box Elder County, Duck hybrids, Eastern Kingbirds, Forster's Terns, Marsh Wrens, Snowy Egrets, Swainson's Hawks, Tundra Swans, Utah, Western Grebes, Western Kingbirds, Yellow-headed Blackbirds|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

One of my favorite locations to photograph birds in northern Utah is Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. I've selected some of the birds there that delight and entertain me while I observe and photograph them.

Breeding plumage Tricolored Heron in flight

By |February 5th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Tricolored Herons|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

I've always liked this image of a Tricolored Heron in breeding plumage that flew past me while I sat in the water of a tidal lagoon near a Spartina marsh in Florida. Warm water, a sea breeze, birds, nature and photography.

Different Plumage Phases Of Red-breasted Merganser Drakes

By |February 4th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Red-breasted Mergansers, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Awhile back someone told me that Mergansers don't change their plumage seasonally, which is of course incorrect as all three species of mergansers that live in North America do.

Great Horned Owl fledgling in a Montana granary window

By |February 2nd, 2013|Categories: Glacier County, Great Horned Owls, Montana, Nesting Birds|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Currently throughout the breeding range of Great Horned Owls the owls have either begun to nest or have nested already. Great Horned Owls have a large range and are found in the U.S., Canada and Central America.

Google has become the biggest image scraper of the Millennium

By |February 1st, 2013|Categories: Birds, Chukars, Copyright Issues|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

You might wonder why I have used this title but since the 25th of January changes have been made to Google Image Search that have infuriated webmasters, photographers, artists and many more.

Bird Images From Warmer And Sunnier Days

By |January 31st, 2013|Categories: Birds, Black Skimmers, Brown Pelicans, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Snowy Egrets, White Ibises|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I love winter, I love seeing snow on the mountains and feeling the crispness in the air but I am getting tired of gray cloudy days and heavy fog so I thought I would post a few bird images from warmer and sunnier days that I took while I lived in Florida.

Snowy Coyote, Chukar and Antelope Island State Park

By |January 29th, 2013|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Chukars, Coyotes, Davis County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday when I saw this running Chukar image on my camera LCD in mid-stride and mid-air I had to chuckle because it looks something like a feathered Nerf football some one tossed across the snow.

Monday Blues – Little Blue Heron that is

By |January 28th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Little Blue Herons, Pinellas County|Tags: , , , , , , |

I don't know how much snow fell over night here in the Salt Lake Valley because it is still dark outside and while I am truly not "blue" about it I thought some images from warmer times of a blue bird might be in order for a Monday.

The answer to the Gull and Tern Quiz is…

By |January 28th, 2013|Categories: American Herring Gulls, Bird ID, Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Gulls, Laughing Gulls, Royal Terns|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The majority of you voted for the correct answer: Juvenile Herring Gull, 1st winter Laughing Gull and Royal Tern

Immature Red-tailed, Rough-legged, Ferruginous and Swainson’s Hawks

By |January 27th, 2013|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Davis County, Ferruginous Hawks, Montana, Red-tailed Hawks, Rough-legged Hawks, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Today I thought I would post images of the juvenile Buteos that I see most often in Utah and Montana, they are Red-tailed, Rough-legged, Ferruginous and Swainson's Hawks.

Bird images from warmer days and all at 300mm or less

By |January 26th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Fish Crows, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Ghost Crabs, Laughing Gulls, Pinellas County, Short-billed Dowitchers, Willets, Yellow-crowned Night Herons|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Gray skies, freezing temps and the inversions are beginning to get to me so I thought I would share some bird images from warmer days on Fort De Soto County Park's north beach in sunny Florida.

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