Birds

Birds that I find in the field, photograph and share the stories behind the images.

Calling Pied-billed Grebe – It Is Breeding Season For These Grebes

By |March 21st, 2018|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Pied-billed Grebes, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

Two days ago I noticed one Pied-billed Grebe carrying vegetation in its bill which I presume it was gathering to build its floating nest at a small pond at Farmington Bay WMA and later on I heard the call of a Pied-billed Grebe, located the grebe and photographed it as it called.

Hovering Northern Harrier Plus My Lifer Harris’s Sparrow

By |March 20th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Harris's Sparrow, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

In some shrubs next to Glover Pond I saw two sparrows and the one that quickly drew my eye was a lovely first winter Harris's Sparrow, jackpot, a lifer!

Killdeer Calling in Flight at Night

By |March 19th, 2018|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Killdeer, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

A few nights ago I opened the door to check out the cloud cover and weather conditions before going to bed and for the first time since I moved to Utah I heard a flock of calling Killdeer flying past in the pitch black night.

Before Dawn Breaks The Courtship Displays Begin On Greater Sage-Grouse Leks

By |March 18th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Greater Sage-Grouse, Utah, Wayne County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Each year across the western states Greater Sage-Grouse begin to fly into leks on the sagebrush steppe during late winter and early spring to perform their fascinating courtship displays well before the first sign of dawn.

Looking For Burrowing And Short-eared Owls

By |March 16th, 2018|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Box Elder County, Burrowing Owls, Davis County, Owls, Short-eared Owls, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I'm getting ansty for spring migration and for the birds that it will bring including Burrowing and Short-eared Owls which I always look forward to photographing here in northern Utah.

Man Arrested for Illegal Mass Killing of Raptors in California

By |March 15th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah, Utah County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I seriously don't know why some people do the things they do and there are times that I read articles and find myself simultaneously exceedingly sad and tremendously angry when those articles have to do with the malicious, illegal killing of birds and wildlife.

Drake Lesser Scaup in Salt Lake County

By |March 13th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Lesser Scaups, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The drake Lesser Scaup did come in close enough to be able to take a few images of it where it almost filled the frame before a man and his dog walked by and caused the scaup to make a hasty retreat to the middle of the pond.

Sandhill Cranes In Flight During Spring Migration

By |March 12th, 2018|Categories: Bicknell Bottoms Wildlife Management Area, Birds, Sandhill Cranes, Utah, Wayne County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The last couple of times I have gone to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and further north of there I have been so happy to hear and see, even if from a long distance, the return of our Sandhill Cranes.

Some of the Birds That People Love to Hate

By |March 11th, 2018|Categories: American Crows, Birds, Black-billed Magpies, Brown-headed Cowbirds, Common Ravens, Double-crested Cormorants, European Starlings, Fish Crows, Florida, House Sparrows, Laughing Gulls, Mallards|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Okay, that is enough for now, there are more birds that people love to hate but I can only deal with so much of it before I feel the need to get out and photograph all the birds I see, even those that other people despise.

Looking For The First Of The Year Sage Thrashers To Arrive

By |March 9th, 2018|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Sage Thrashers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I can barely wait to see my first Sage Thrasher of the year warming up on a rock in front of the Great Salt Lake, scurrying along on the ground, perched on top of sage or rabbitbrush singing or displaying.

White Crowned Sparrows With And Without The Hand Of Humans

By |March 8th, 2018|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah, White-crowned Sparrows|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

I try to take my bird photos with my subjects in natural settings and I spend a lot of time out in nature to do that but I'm realizing I need to include the "hand of mhumans" in my bird photos too because some species fit into the urban environment as easily as they do out in more natural areas.

Resting Canada Goose Close Up In Salt Lake County

By |March 6th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Canada Geese, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday while photographing the birds at my local pond this resting Canada Goose caught my eye because of the bright blue water behind it and the great view I had of the eye of the goose while it had its bill tucked under its feathers.

Black-billed Magpie On The Wing – Sideways

By |March 5th, 2018|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Black-billed Magpies, Davis County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

This Black-billed Magpie had been perched on the top of a leafless greasewood when it lifted off from it and flew almost directly towards me with its body and wings turned sideways in flight.

Turkey Vulture Perched On An Orange Post – Why is that Fence Post Orange?

By |March 4th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Turkey Vultures, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

When I photographed this adult Turkey Vulture in northern Utah last year it wasn't alone, there were several other vultures roosting near it that morning on fence posts and a locked gate and I took a lot of images of all of them.

Winter California and American Herring Gull Portrait Comparisons

By |March 3rd, 2018|Categories: American Herring Gulls, Birds, California Gulls, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

We have the Ring-billed and California Gulls in northern Utah year round but the Herring Gulls are only winter visitors to this area.

American Crows Feeding on Fish at Farmington Bay

By |March 2nd, 2018|Categories: American Crows, Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

Two days ago there were still numerous American Crows feeding on the carcasses of the carp at Farmington Bay and some of the crows were close enough to allow me to take frame filling images of these pure black birds.

Photographing American Tree Sparrows in Northern Utah

By |March 1st, 2018|Categories: American Tree Sparrows, Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I had a great deal of fun yesterday morning while photographing the American Tree Sparrows that I found in abundance on Antelope Island State Park foraging on the ground and perching on the bushes on the northern end of the island.

Swainson’s Hawks Heading Our Way

By |February 28th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

These two Swainson's Hawk photos were taken in May of last year up in northern Utah from inside a vehicle being used as a mobile blind and both were photographed from the side of a road where they had become accustomed to traffic going by so they weren't skittish at all.

Photographing Short-eared Owl Fledglings in Northern Utah

By |February 25th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Short-eared Owls, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Both of the fledgling Short-eared Owls I took photos of that morning appeared very relaxed while I photographed them, they looked around, preened, yawned, stretched and even rested with their eyes closed.

Spread-eagle Red-winged Blackbird at Fort De Soto County Park

By |February 23rd, 2018|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Red-winged Blackbirds|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

In Florida I most often photographed Red-winged Blackbirds at north beach of Fort De Soto County Park where I could reliably find them in the sand dunes, sea oats, spartina and mangroves all year long.

Drake Redhead Flapping His Wings On a February Afternoon

By |February 22nd, 2018|Categories: Birds, Redheads, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I've been seeing Redheads at my local pond over the winter but most of the time they have stayed on the other side of the pond so having this one up a bit closer and flapping his wings was a delight.

Greater Sage-Grouse on a Lek – Our Public Lands – Our Legacy

By |February 21st, 2018|Categories: Birds, Greater Sage-Grouse, Utah, Wayne County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

One might ask what do Greater Sage-Grouse have to do with our public lands and the answer would be that more than half of all remaining habit for these large upland game birds is on our public lands in the Western U.S..

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