Birds that I find in the field, photograph and share the stories behind the images.
All photographers mess up, some times it is the focus, sometimes it is not having enough shutter speed for active subjects and sometimes a dial gets bumped and when it is not noticed it can affect all the images taken after it has been changed.
One year ago today it was slow on Antelope Island, not many birds were close enough to photograph but on the way home I spotted this female Brewer's Blackbird on some rocks near one of the bridges on the causeway to the island.
Just a few images taken 4 years ago today at Fort De Soto's north beach. It was not a super busy day but I did get quite a few images that I like.
I know that falconry birds and rehabbed raptors can be used as excellent tools in educating the public, I've been impressed with them myself. But there is a risk for falconry birds that escape and that still have jesses or anklets attached and that fact worries me.
It seems I have always had a fondness for Great Blue Herons although I don't recall the first time I ever saw one. Great Blues are large wading birds that have a prehistoric look to them and even their calls; more like a croak, sound like something from the long distant past.
I photographed this female Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga striata) by the parking lot at Fort De Soto's north beach a few years ago during migration.
Last winter was awesome for seeing Rough-legged Hawks and I am hoping they had another great breeding season and that they will show up here in large numbers to over winter.
This image Sandwich Tern was taken at Fort De Soto County Park's north beach several years ago, it was a breezy, very warm day and there were schools of baitfish running just offshore in the Gulf of Mexico.
Yesterday I had a bit of fun photographing this Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) at Farmington Bay Wildlife Management Area, I love the snowy whites these gulls exhibit in their plumage year round
The temps are dropping here in the Salt Lake Valley, two days ago it was below freezing when we went out shooting. Winter brings challenges and birds we don't see during the summer so I am excited about that.
Just a very simple image today of a Reddish Egret (Egretta rufescens) flying over some sand dunes.
Kind a of a crazy title but it is a mantra that I live by when it comes to my bird and nature photography. It simply means that unless I go out shooting I won't know what I am missing.
I've had the good fortune to photograph both the eastern and western Willets in breeding plumage, the eastern in Florida and the western in Utah and Montana.
This is an adult White Ibis (Eudocimus albus) that I photographed at Fort De Soto's north beach that was feeding in a tidal lagoon by the mangroves
Most of the Horned Larks I photograph are perched on rocks or boulders, this one is perched on a dried pile of Bison poop. Some might think this is a crappy perch and they would be right!
Wow, this is my 500th blog post and it has been great fun to share my images and the stories behind them. I thought I'd share a few images and bits about my thoughts on photography.
While my mother was visiting Utah she was able to see how California Gulls chase and feed on Brine Flies, it is fascinating feeding behavior. As my mom watched, I photographed.
Just a simple image of a male Black-necked Stilt taken earlier this year at Bear River National Wildlife Refuge. Very graceful birds.
I had another great day with juvenile Red-tailed Hawks on Antelope Island State Park last week.
Near the summit of Francis Peak, elevation 9,560 feet, I spotted this Dusky Grouse male on the edge of a gravel road with a steep drop off to the west and I was able to get a few photographs of it before we motioned to a pickup truck coming down from the summit to move forward.
Normally I wouldn't take or present an image where the subject is as small in the frame as this juvenile White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) is but I couldn't resist because I like this image a lot.
Just a single image of a Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa) that strolled past me while I sat in the water photographing it. Every time I look at this image I feel a wonderful sense of peace, the same feeling I had when I took this photo.
I have enjoyed photographing Lazuli Buntings (Passerina amoena) near the San Rafael River at the San Rafael Swell Recreation Area. These images were taken in the spring when the males were high on perches singing to attract females.
I don't get to see or photograph Oystercatchers here in Utah but I still dream about these shorebirds and can hear their calls when I look at the thousands of images I took of them.
This was a life bird for my mother and I am glad she was able to see it strolling among the rocks on the shoreline of the Great Salt Lake while I photographed the curlew last week.
One foggy morning last December I spotted this juvenile Prairie Falcon (Falco mexicanus) perched on a frost-covered rock on the causeway to Antelope Island SP with the Great Salt Lake in the background.
Male Yellow-headed Blackbirds (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) are flashy birds but I believe the females have a subtle beauty too.
In May of this year I camped at Antelope Flat in the Flaming Gorge National recreation Area and near the boat ramp there was an Osprey nest.
Black-bellied Plovers in breeding and nonbreeding plumage can look like two different plover species but they aren't.
I don't always get what I want though; for example, I wanted this male Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) I photographed at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in southwestern Montana in good light.