Late Migrating American Avocets in Utah
Most of the American Avocets have migrated away from northern Utah but most years we can have a few stragglers that haven't migrated by this time of the year
Most of the American Avocets have migrated away from northern Utah but most years we can have a few stragglers that haven't migrated by this time of the year
This is National Wildlife Refuge Week and in celebration I wanted to do a pictorial essay that includes some of my images of the Birds of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
I'll be out photographing birds like this Willet foraging in the Gulf of Mexico, other wildlife and the beauty of nature.
I got to find, point out, and photograph a rare Upland Sandpiper in Utah well out of its normal migration route and range, what a day. What a find
I was tickled to photograph this American Avocet as it fed but it wasn't until later that I knew it was devouring a tiny crayfish.
I photographed this Solitary Sandpiper two days ago at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and saw several more and I also photographed a pair of them the week before.
I am unable to find information on line about why this male American Avocet attacked the female so aggressively but I can say that it was fascinating to see and photograph it.
One a fall day at Fort De Soto I was able to photograph this Black-bellied Plover on a foggy morning up close on the beach.
This sleeping Willet image remains one of my favorite images because it was so comfortable in my presence that it fell asleep.
The Black-necked Stilt adults seem to be still keeping an eye on their young and that is what this male Black-necked Stilt was doing near the auto tour loop.
The American Avocets look a bit different now than they did earlier in the year because they are now in their paler, less colorful nonbreeding plumage.
Killdeer chicks are precocial and active soon after hatching and will leave the nest as soon as their down dries.
I photographed this migrating Least Sandpiper in the same pond as the Wilson's Phalarope chick at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge but on different days.
I was photographing a Wilson's Phalarope chick and it was in fact the youngest phalarope chick I had ever seen!
These four birds, an American Oystercatcher, a Greater Sage-Grouse, a Reddish Egret and a Mountain Plover are all facing the risk of extinction without serious conservation measures to reduce declines in populations and habitat destruction.
Last night I spent some time dreaming of oystercatchers. I could hear them in my dream and see them scurrying along the waves.
I took a series of images of this male Black-necked Stilt foraging in some very shallow water that showed the red of his eyes and those long, long legs.
When I photographed this trio of Great Yellowlegs in Florida I didn't have to worry about how far away they were, in fact at times they moved too close to me
I knew where this camouflaged Wilson's Plover chick was when I photographed it from a distance but realized that if I didn't point out that there was a chick in the image that other people might not even know it was there.
It is breeding season for Killdeer at Bear River MBR and for all of Utah.
The Long-billed Curlews on Antelope Island are fascinating subjects to photograph and observe or anywhere for that matter.
I photographed Long-billed Curlews, Willets and Chukars along with a few other birds and a Pronghorn buck. It was a beautiful spring day.
This Gulf Coast Snowy Plover was photographed at Fort De Soto County Park in Florida and the park was the first place I had ever photographed this species.
After they burn the phragmites it doesn't take long for life to go back to normal for some of the birds like this Killdeer in a burned area.
This pose made me think "The Long-billed Curlew Scores" but he was really just exhibiting a territorial response to another curlew that was nearby
I took this image of the Piping Plover on a shell covered beach right after the sun came up when the light had that sweet golden tone to it
This alert Spotted Sandpiper was photographed at Fort De Soto County Park in January of 2009 as it walked down some rip rap towards the water.
This Dunlin was just about finished molting into its breeding plumage and would have soon been on its way to the Arctic and sub-Arctic tundra to breed and raise its young.
This Willet in golden light was photographed at Fort De Soto County Park in April of 2008 and is one of my favorite Willet images taken in Florida.
I watched this juvenile American Oystercatcher on the shore of the Gulf grow up in 2008 at Fort De Soto County Park's north beach.