Birds that I find in the field, photograph and share the stories behind the images.
I know, I could grumble about not being able to photograph the young Cooper's Hawk taking its prey down just feet away from my Jeep but you know what? Being there to see nature in action was enough for me.
I looked up and spotted a Warbling Vireo not only out in the open plus it had gorgeous fall colors in the background. I locked focus onto the vireo and started taking images in a long burst!
This female or immature Wilson's Warbler isn't a photographic lifer for me but it is the first time I have gotten a decent image of one, most of the time I've gotten blurry images of them of just a small part of the bird.
On August 24th I had an opportunity to photograph this female Western Tanager out in the open perched on a Utah Serviceberry for a second or two.
I heard a familiar call, caught a flash of black, gray and white and spotted a Black-capped Chickadee land right in front of a Western Tent Caterpillar tent while calling out a clear "chickadee-dee-dee" to another chickadee that was nearby.
There was plenty of bird activity where chokecherry trees lined both sides of the gravel road, the most numerous birds foraging on the chokecherries were American Robins and many of them were immature birds.
I've had such an amazing time this year photographing Yellow Warblers in the Wasatch Mountains and I've enjoyed learning more about them and their behaviors since early May.
This Orange-crowned Warbler probably wasn't peeking out of the serviceberry shrub at me, it was more than likely looking at the ripe fruit just in front of its bill.
Last week for a few brief seconds I was pleasantly surprised to have a Rufous Hummingbird in my viewfinder while up in the Wasatch Mountains.
Over the past couple of weeks I have been able to photograph male, female and immature Lazuli Buntings as they have been gorging on the fruits of Serviceberry trees to fatten up before their migration.
I am glad I didn't rush to report a Least Flycatcher along with the Baltimore Oriole when this little empid is actually a Dusky Flycatcher and a photographic lifer for me.
I didn't go up into the Wasatch Mountains yesterday thinking I would find a rare bird but that is precisely what happened after I spotted a beautiful male Baltimore Oriole fly into a serviceberry bush in Morgan County.
Water levels have been dropped in some units at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge for dike maintenance and this made me think of what might happen in the future due to climate change and if more dams are built on the Bear River and how the reduction of water reaching the refuge might be a huge issue
As I sat creekside in my Jeep an adult Song Sparrow flew in, landed and began hopping around looking for food for breakfast in the vegetation floating on the water at the edge of the creek.
This spring and summer I have photographed Yellow Warblers primarily in mountainous riparian habitat so when I spotted one foraging in a Rough Cocklebur two days ago in the marshes at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I was happy to take photos of it.
Because of the avocet's determination to chase off this Greater Yellowlegs I was able to photograph it lifting off from the water with water still dripping from its feet and with the shorebird's head framed by its wings.
When the female American Goldfinch lifted off I liked the eye contact I had with her and how graceful she looked when she raised her wings, when I saw this image on my camera LCD I just had to smile.
I'd driven up into a Wasatch Mountain canyon and was waiting for the sun to rise over the mountains when I spotted several juvenile Barn Swallows perched on a fence right next to the road in lovely morning light.
Even though the sun was high I couldn't resist photographing a juvenile Lazuli Bunting that flew in and perched on a Utah Serviceberry branch because to my eye the setting was both enchanting and very appealing.
I could wish that the Warbling Vireo had hung around longer so that I could have taken many more images of it but I'm thrilled that I was able to take any photos of the bird at all.
It was a lot of fun photographing adult Gray Catbirds earlier this year and photographing the juveniles learning to be on their own has been equally fun and entertaining.
I spent some time yesterday morning observing, photographing and enjoying the songs and calls of Black-capped Chickadees in a high mountain canyon. Chickadees always bring a smile to my lips and yesterday was no exception.
My chances of getting the Warbling Vireo photos I have dreamed of were awful but I went up into the canyon anyway.
I am always glad when a bird unexpectedly flies in so that I can take close up photos because close ups show so much fine detail in their plumage and that is what happened earlier this week with a Pine Siskin.
In the past week I have photographed so many birds in a Wasatch Mountain canyon that I thought I would share a group of them in a photo gallery.
I spent a few minutes yesterday morning focusing on young Chipping Sparrows foraging in a stand of Chokecherry trees, there were several of these juveniles flitting around in front of me in nice light.
While photographing some waxwings a flash of movement caught my eye and I spotted an immature American Robin reaching for a berry in a Utah Serviceberry shrub, I couldn't help myself, I had to photograph this young bird too.
The Orange-crowned Warbler gave me quite a few different poses and I was happy to take photos of her and the Utah Serviceberry shrub while she moved around.
Two years ago when I photographed this stormy sky with a Great Blue Heron in flight I also photographed loads of other birds from the auto tour route including wading and shorebirds, geese, ducks, ibis, terns, gulls, rails, pelicans and coots.
Who knew that Downy Woodpeckers have eyes the color of a fine Cognac? I didn't until I took this Downy Woodpecker close up in the Wasatch Mountains one month ago.