There was a stiff breeze blowing and when the light morph Rough-legged Hawk lifted off from the juniper it seemed to me as if he did it in slow motion.
I photograph birds all the time and there are a few that simply take my breath away and totally mesmerize me, this dark morph Ferruginous Hawk is one of those birds.
During the winter when road conditions get bad enough to make me think about my personal safety driving on the interstate and other roads I enjoy being able to photograph urban birds much closer to home.
Having this male House Finch perched in a frost kissed Greasewood a few days ago with blue sky behind it did make him stand out well.
Small birds like these White-crowned Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos and American Goldfinches need cover that provides safety for them from predators.
This immature Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk is striking with those white polka dot spots on its back, I don't think I have ever seen a young Red-tail where the white spots on the scapulars are so pronounced.
Two mornings ago a small flock of Mountain Chickadees came in to forage on the seeds in some Douglas Fir trees and I had fun trying to keep up with the small dynamos.
It has been a long time since I had a dark morph Ferruginous Hawk in my view finder so when I spotted it hovering over a field I knew I had to stop and get photos of it.
I'm really glad I looked at these ducks in the fog and decided to take photos of them even though I was looking towards the sun instead of away from it like I typically do when photographing birds.
Three days ago there was a little bit of fog at Farmington Bay WMA while the sun was coming up over the Wasatch Mountains which set up the conditions I needed to take this Northern Shoveler photo.
When I first moved to Utah in 2009 I saw very few Eurasian Collared-Doves but now I see them in many locations and sometimes in large numbers.
If I get a single image, like this foraging Red-breasted Nuthatch feeding on the seeds of a Douglas Fir tree, I am happy.
As I look at this Trumpeter Swan photo and see my Jeep reflected in its eyes I feel a sense of loss. I know that I won't forget the swan that I couldn't rescue.
When I was at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge a few days ago I saw lots of ducks in the marshes and on the water and I realized that I am looking forward to photographing winter ducks again.
The thing about this immature Red-tailed Hawk photo is this: I don't like the background color because I see these colors, tones and hues so frequently where I live in northern Utah.
Yesterday morning I spent a few minutes photographing Mountain Chickadees foraging in Douglas Fir trees which was a lot of fun but challenging too.
Pine Siskins are year round residents in Utah but that doesn't mean I get to see them as often as I would like because they are nomadic by nature.
I photographed some sparrows, goldfinches, juncos, and this lovely male Spotted Towhee that was eating the fruit of a Fragrant Sumac tree.
Six days ago I was happy to see three flocks of Wild Turkeys and the smallest flock was in good light, at the edge of a forest and they were cooperative.
I proudly credit being an Army Brat on discovering a great location to photograph these Red-breasted Nuthatches and other woodland birds.
While hoping to photograph Brown Creepers two days ago I spotted a Hermit Thrush at a distance on the ground in the deep shadows of a stand of trees.
I didn't get the Brown Creeper photos I have been dreaming of yesterday but I did take lovely images of an immature Ferruginous Hawk in early morning, golden light.
I wanted to share two photos of the Mountain Chickadees I photographed yesterday morning that flew in and fed on Douglas Fir seeds.
With scores of pipits flying in, flying out and moving around on the rocks it was a challenge to decide which bird to have in my viewfinder.
I don't often get to have Great-tailed Grackles in my viewfinder let alone have them close enough to take portraits of them so when the opportunity presents itself, I jump at the chance.
As common as Dark-eyed Juncos are I have surprisingly few photos of them in my galleries and that is why I get excited when I can add a new photo of them to my portfolio.
It is currently the time of the year when I start looking for Rough-legged Hawks in northern Utah, the temps have dipped below freezing, there has been frost on the ground and now we've had our first snow.
Because I arrived at twilight that morning and had a clear sky I knew that I could take photos of the Great Blue Heron with the blue colored Earth's Shadow and pink Belt of Venus behind it.
Crappy images like this blurry Brown Creeper make me more determined to get the photos I want, that I salivate over and dream about.
I don't see nearly as many harriers over the marshes at Farmington Bay as I used to five to ten years ago but the marshes have changed some since I moved to northern Utah.