Birds that I find in the field, photograph and share the stories behind the images.
To me it looks like this American White Pelican was doing an impression of a floating, domestic white turkey because when the pelican was facing me nearly head on the length of pelican's long bill seemed to disappear
It was a juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron encounter on the auto tour route at the refuge and the resulting photos that made me smile the most when I viewed the images on my monitor at home
I don't often have the opportunity of taking photos of ducks that are flying straight at me while coming in for a landing which is exactly what this drake mallard did.
I photographed this Ring-billed Gull last November as it hovered over the autumn colored marsh and I really like the resulting photo. The pose, the light, the setting, the contrast in colors all work well for my tastes.
Eight years ago today I didn't know that it would be the last time I'd photograph the Burrowing Owl family together and that a juvenile Peregrine Falcon would have a part in that.
Two days ago I had a few fleeting moments with an immature Black-chinned Hummingbird that flew in and landed close to me and I relished every second with it.
All summer long I have heard Willow Flycatchers up in some of the Wasatch Mountain Canyons but had been unable to capture quality images of them.
Rocky Mountain Bee Plants are blooming all over the Salt Lake Valley right now and those beautiful, spider-like flowers are attracting hummingbirds, moths, butterflies, bees and a host of insects.
I was delighted to photograph a lovely, little Dark-eyed Junco juvenile perched in a conifer near Washington Lake which is not too far from Trial Lake and the Mirror Lake Highway.
I did find one jewel in the images, a photo of one of the adult Red-naped Sapsuckers flying away from the nesting cavity looking like a bullet.
I saw my first juvenile Swainson's Hawk of the year last week and although it didn't give me any opportunities to take better images of it I was happy to see it perched on a power pole.
It does seem odd though to see Great Blue Herons hanging around the Great Salt Lake after the chicks have fledged like this immature heron I photographed yesterday near the causeway.
I loved taking photos of birds on those old fence posts like this male Short-eared Owl that was looking down to the ground for prey.
When I look at this photo of the juvenile Sanderling I see a bird that was so relaxed that it fell asleep while I photographed it because it was comfortable with my presence and I felt honored that it was.
Shorebirds begin their fall migration early and for those of us who live in the Great Salt Lake ecosystem that means looking for them in the marshes around the lake and on the lake itself.
This juvenile Red-tailed Hawk may have looked like it was giving me the eye when I photographed it but it was actually looking for one of its parents to bring it some food.
There are lots of Canada Geese near where I live in part because of the grassy golf course that is not too far away and because of the Jordan River and several small ponds that are just down the hill.
Birds aren't always neat looking, feathers wear, birds molt and young birds transitioning from their juvenal plumage into adult plumage can look quite disheveled or messy.
Thousands upon thousands of Black-necked Stilts make the marshes at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in northern Utah their home during their breeding season.
This image kind of looks like I photographed a two-headed juvenile Western Kingbird but it is really an optical illusion.
Some Tundra Swans migrate from the arctic tundra using the Great Basin hub of the Pacific flyway and huge flocks of them spend the winter here.
Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge was calling me yesterday morning and I answered that call and photographed several White-faced Ibis from the auto tour route.
I have my ears and my eyes to thank for finding the Yellow Warblers and their young foraging near a creek in a canyon.
As a bird photographer who spends enormous amounts of time in the field with my feathered subjects I am able to see avian behaviors that other people don't see who aren't focused on birds.
This Great Blue Heron wandered past me one December morning at Fort De Soto County Park's north beach on a gray, windy day and because it was close I simply had to take a photo of the large wading bird.
I do not believe that this bird was one of the pair of adult Red-naped Sapsuckers I photographed feeding the chick in the nesting cavity, his bib and breast markings were different from the other adult birds.
There was a tribe of juvenile Black-billed Magpies on Antelope Island State Park yesterday down near White Rock Bay that were wandering around in the area near the Buffalo Point trailhead
While stopped at a gate at Red Rock lakes NWR a Tree Swallow flew in and landed on a fence post so close that I wasn't sure I was going to be able to focus on it but I had to try.
Some of the birds I see often while at the Lower Lake of Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Montana are Savannah Sparrows and I love to photograph them there.
Two days ago I watched and photographed as April Olson who is a volunteer at Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah release a rehabbed Burrowing Owl and it was very exciting for me because I've never been to a release before