Birds that I find in the field, photograph and share the stories behind the images.
Bird photography was a little slow at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge yesterday morning until I spotted a Common Loon floating on the Bear River.
I don't have nearly enough Gadwall photos in my portfolios and I honestly don't know why that is the case since they are year round residents here in northern Utah.
Yesterday opportunity knocked when several Lesser Goldfinches flew in to knosh on wild sunflowers seeds near a road at Farmington Bay WMA.
One of the Dark-eyed Juncos that I had in my viewfinder was perched on top of a rabbitbrush with seeds and fluff in its bill that turned its head towards me.
I listen for birds everywhere I go. Their calls and songs help me to locate them so I can photograph and observe them as they go about their lives.
This adult American Coot may look like it is screaming but in reality it is simply calling out because another bird got close to it next to the shoreline of a small pond.
Being concerned about shorebirds in harsh winter weather isn't unusual but despite their delicate appearance these shorebirds are tough.
It does not matter where I am or what I am doing, I am never not looking for birds.
Is one of these immature Great Blue Heron images more visually appealing than the other? That depends on the personal tastes of the person viewing them.
I can barely wait to hear and see my first of season Tundra Swans and to see them on the wing over the marshes that surround the Great Salt Lake.
Last year by this date I had taken hundreds of photos of American Pipits. So far this autumn I have taken Nada. Zip. Zero. Zilch.
I'm hoping that this week I'll be able to spot my first of the season Rough-legged Hawks and that I'll be able to get photos of them too. Fingers are crossed!
My Facebook timeline is buzzing with people posting photos of large numbers of Pine Siskins at their bird feeders across the country.
The stark contrast of the white plumage of the Snowy Egret against the darkness of shadows on the vegetation and water made the egret appear to glow.
I'm not sure why I like this Bald Eagle image as much as I do but I do know that while I am looking at it I feel calm.
Over the past month I thought about whether I wanted to share images and tell the story of this Western Meadowlark that lost its life because of a barbed wire death trap and finally decided that the story needed to be told.
Seeing and photographing the Bushtits in northern Utah was a gift that I didn't expect yesterday and I am grateful to finally have images of them that I like.
This Warbling Vireo wasn't the last vireo I saw before they migrated but it was the last one where I was able to take photos of this species out in the open this year.
The past couple of weeks on some of my journeys to the West Desert of Utah I have been able to have a few long distance views of Ferruginous Hawks and that has me excited.
One of the seasonal changes I look for in autumn is when I see that the Dark-eyed Juncos have arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.
This is a really simple photo with three features, the White-crowned Sparrow, the stump, and a very dark background.
The Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Wild Turkeys and the Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay made the very bumpy and extremely dusty ride into the mountain canyons well worth taking.
This male Mountain Bluebird seemed to glow in the early morning light which was in sharp contrast with the shadows on the mountains in the background.
I spent sometime at Farmington Bay WMA yesterday morning where my best bird of the day was an immature Red-tailed Hawk resting in a tree.
Red-breasted Nuthatches aren't easy to photograph because they are tiny, they move quickly and their flight patterns are fairly unpredictable. Finding the right habitat, their habitat, can make it fun.
I didn't get the photos I wanted of the sparrows perched on the rabbitbrush but I like this portrait of the young White-crowned Sparrow in front of it just as well.
I know where in the mountains to find Townsend’s Solitaires by seeing them, hearing them and by knowing their preferred habitat.
I don't know how many times I have said "expect the unexpected" since I began photographing birds while talking to fellow photographers.
There were a few times when the Wild Turkeys stood upright and looked right at me as I photographed them and I took full advantage of the opportunity to take portraits of the large birds.
This adult female Northern Flicker and a male were both foraging for hawthorn berries when I spotted them from across a creek high in the Wasatch Mountains.