Birds that I find in the field, photograph and share the stories behind the images.
To my surprise when the Vesper Sparrow lifted off it flew onto the top of another sagebrush that was even closer to me which was nearly perfect for taking portraits of the sparrow and I took full advantage of the opportunity.
When I heard a call to my left I glanced in that direction and saw a female Northern Harrier flying towards the Red-tailed at break neck speed.
Two days ago while near the Weber River up in Summit County I heard a familiar sound and I knew from that sound that a Spotted Sandpiper was nearby.
When I opened this adult Cliff Swallow image on my computer at home the first thought I had was that it looked like the Cliff Swallow was surfing on a phragmites "wave".
I haven't seen or photographed White-faced Ibis perched in the nearly ten years that I have lived here so I was thrilled to have my first opportunity to do so yesterday at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
I tried to get up into a canyon in the Stansbury Mountains yesterday but was met with a closed gate so I turned my Jeep around and decided that I would explore a different canyon.
When mom and I found this adult Green-tailed Towhee singing while perched on a blooming Utah Serviceberry of course we had to stop and take its photo!
The best bird I spotted that I could photograph was a male Red-tailed Hawk resting on a cliff face and what I loved about this photo was all the grasses, lichen, wildflowers and the sage high up on the cliff.
It really is a simple Great Blue Heron photo with the marsh, a stationary wading bird, vibrant spring growth and water at the top of the frame but it is also a very calming image for me because for a few seconds time stood as still as the heron.
The first ID features I noticed yesterday with this Vesper Sparrow were the bright, white eyerings and the rufous lesser coverts and I could make my ID from just those two features.
Later in the morning and on the other side of the auto tour route I was able to take images of a hen Cinnamon Teal surrounded by lush, green spring growth while her mate kept an eye on her from a distance.
There isn't a single day in the field where I take my eyesight and my keen spotting abilities for granted and yesterday those attributes netted me not one but two Merlins while I was at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
The day I came home from camping in the West Desert the first bird calls I heard were from several Caspian Terns in flight overhead that were squabbling and diving at each other.
This White-faced Ibis had been feeding in the shallow water and had gotten its head soaking wet right before I photographed it and the ibis was in the process of getting ready to shake the water from its head feathers.
It was a pleasure for me to see and photograph a Willet two days ago on Antelope Island State Park and this Willet even started calling which made it even more of a pleasure for me.
Yesterday I was lucky enough to find a male Burrowing Owl whose burrow is in front of a clump of Redstem Filaree that is blooming profusely and for me that was a joy because I had two of my favorite subjects in the same frame.
On my visit to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge last week I didn't see large numbers of American White Pelicans but at this time of the year that is understandable because many of them are probably nesting on Gunnison Island right now.
These elegant black and white Western Grebes are beautiful while they feed, preen, rest and stretch but they are even more striking when they dance across the water while performing their courtship ceremony.
Justice has been served in the case of Richard Parker killing the 150 raptors but that does not bring those valuable raptors back. Parker should be glad that I wasn't his judge.
I dug through my older files and found this photo of a fledgling Mountain Bluebird perched on a wire fence that I photographed in July of 2017 up in Montana's Centennial Valley.
I wonder if GEICO knows that they can drive a birder/bird photographer bonkers as easy as they did me over the winter.
I thought that I would share screenshots of this morning and tomorrow morning's weather forecasts, it ain't pretty. In fact, it is absolutely rotten considering it is Spring and yet Ole Man Winter just won't let go.
Tree Swallows were the most numerous of the swallows I saw and at the far northwest part of the auto tour route I found bunches of them resting in a stand of phragmites so I decided to get out, set up my tripod and photograph them from across the water.
The birds I heard and saw on the island with the most frequency were Western Meadowlarks, most of them were too far away or too skittish to photograph but one of them was cooperative and I was grateful for that.
While trying to get up into the mountains of the West Desert the other day I heard a call that excited me, it was the call of a single Red-breasted Nuthatch.
I have plenty of photos of Clark's, Western and Pied-billed Grebes but few of Eared Grebes and I am hoping that this breeding season I will be able to have more of these small grebes in my viewfinder.
I've shared photos of this gorgeous dark morph Swainson's Hawk before and I've written about how I believed it was the darkest, dark morph I had ever seen and to date that still holds true.
While looking for Sage Thrashers to photograph on Antelope Island two days ago I swear I heard a Willet call. It was just one distant call but my ears perked up right away.
The road is nothing more than a sandy track that runs through a grassland area where in past years I have seen Long-billed Curlews displaying, fighting, courting and mating and I hoped to see that yesterday.
I had a great time photographing this beautiful rufous Red-tailed Hawk yesterday morning and I'm glad I had good light when I did.