Families: Cracidae, Odontophoridae, Phasianidae
Upland game birds in my photo galleries include grouse, pheasants, quail, turkeys, and partridges. Some upland game birds are native and some are introduced and have naturalized.
It isn't uncommon to see California Quail crossing sidewalks, roads and trails in the city and this photo reminded me of how well this species has adapted to living in urban areas.
I was able to photograph several California Quail in snow yesterday in Davis County, Utah and I was also able to listen to at least one male calling.
It was a fine Autumn morning for photographing Wild Turkeys in northern Utah yesterday because the skies were mostly clear and the turkeys were a bit more cooperative than usual.
Yesterday morning I was able to spend time photographing a pair of Chukars on Antelope Island State Park in a grassy area that has begun to turn green.
I'm dreaming of seeing Greater Sage-Grouse, Sandhill Cranes and White-tailed Prairie Dogs as spring warms up the sagebrush steppe.
The surprise birds of the day were Gray Partridges in an area where I hadn't seen them before and they were feeding close to the edge of the road.
It was 21°F one frigid morning on a Greater Sage-Grouse Lek and before dawn broke the grouse began to display on the high country sagebrush steppe in Wayne County, Utah.
Finding a flock of Wild Turkeys close enough to photograph in the Promontory Mountain Range of Box Elder County yesterday was exciting and challenging too.
Maybe next time I up in the canyons I will get lucky and spot some of the Wild Turkeys that make their home in the Stansbury Mountains.
I spent time in northern Utah yesterday and I was able to photograph a juvenile Golden Eagle, Turkey Vultures plus a covey of Gray Partridges.
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.
The first bird I photographed yesterday morning was a wet Chukar on top of a lichen covered boulder about the time the sun rose above the clouds and mountains to the east.
I photographed Long-billed Curlews, Willets and Chukars along with a few other birds and a Pronghorn buck. It was a beautiful spring day.
Antelope Island Chukars don't just attract out of town visitors to the island, they still call in locals like myself to see, hear and photograph them.
Both of these Chukars above the Great Salt Lake were photographed on the east side of Antelope Island State Park this month.
A short trip to look for Greater Sage-Grouse, White-tailed Prairie Dogs and the other birds and animals that call the sagebrush steppe their home.
All of these male Ring-necked Pheasant portraits were taken yesterday morning at Farmington Bay WMA in the snow at 5°F.
The recent decision to not list Greater Sage-Grouse under the Endangered Species Act is seen by some as a "good thing" and by others a "bad thing". So, perhaps we can be more productive if we start saving the Greater Sage-Grouse one lek at a time.
Since the snow has started to fall in the high country of Utah I have started thinking about Greater Sage-Grouse again.
Yesterday while up in one of the canyons of the Stansbury Mountains some movement caught my eye and when I looked closely I could see a small flock of Wild Turkeys in the junipers.
After a long, hot summer I always look forward to the first day of autumn because it usually means cooler temperatures along with the scenery becoming more colorful as the leaves begin to turn.
I might need to go wandering up the canyons and Sky Line Drive soon just to see what birds and creatures I can find.
It hasn't been a very birdy trip so far but I did photograph a pair of Greater Sage-Grouse yesterday morning that were close enough to take images of.
Just a quick post this morning from Wayne County, Utah of a Wild Turkey hen I saw feeding near a small pond on the way up to Boulder Top yesterday.
Two months ago today I was photographing on a Greater Sage-Grouse lek in 21°F weather in Wayne County, Utah.
It has been gray for a couple of days and it supposed to be gray until this front passes and while gray days can get me down gray birds lift me back up.
The two second Greater Sage-Grouse skirmish was over but only for a few seconds before these two males started back up again.
Before my recent trip to Capitol Reef National Park and photographing grouse in Wayne County I photographed this Chukar on Antelope Island State Park.
I will share more Greater Sage-Grouse images from this lek soon but as usual I came home from this trip exhausted and it will take me a few days to get through all the images I took.
I was stunned and amazed to find not just one Greater Sage-Grouse leks but TWO!