World Water Day 2023
Today is World Water Day. The theme for World Water Day 2023 is: Accelerate Change. Every human being on this planet is roughly 60% water.
Today is World Water Day. The theme for World Water Day 2023 is: Accelerate Change. Every human being on this planet is roughly 60% water.
January 21st is National Squirrel Appreciation Day and it recognizes these creatures that some people consider pests while others find them fascinating.
I know that what this person did was not right and the 8 moderators of that group should have said something but in 15 days they haven't said a word about them being too close to the owl chick.
I photographed this sleepy Great Horned Owl male sitting in a opening of the granary, he was probably exhausted from helping his mate raise their young.
By doing more research I found out that Uinta and Richardson's Ground Squirrels and the rest of the ground squirrels in North America have been changed to Urocitellus.
More of the swallows will migrate to the refuge very soon and the Cliff Swallow nesting season will start.
When I can be close enough to see into the eyes of a fledgling Great Horned Owl and take a portrait of it I feel honored and enchanted.
My only wish for this image is that the butterfly had been as sharply in focus as the Short-eared Owl was but with bird photography you never know what might show up in the frame.
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.
This morning winter is trying to creep back into northern Utah but I am thinking of warmer weather, Montana and Great Horned Owls.
Two years ago today I was in Glacier County, Montana photographing sparrows, partridge, Swainson's Hawks and White-tailed Deer.
Every time I see this image of this Richardson's Ground Squirrel I have to laugh because of how full its mouth is.
Most of the time the birds and animals I photograph look majestic, elegant or their poses convey action but some times they look just plain goofy.
I especially like the combination of old wood and owls, in this photo a juvenile Great Horned Owl is perched on an external structural beam of an old granary in Glacier County, Montana.
Both images are appealing to me because I enjoy the foggy softness of the female Short-eared Owl image and the warm, golden tones of the male Short-eared Owl photo.
As I photographed them I saw both Great Horned Owls turn their alert eyes to the sky and although I remember looking up into the sky myself I recall I didn't see anything but the much keener eyes of the owls probably did.
Two years ago I photographed this male Short-eared Owl in Glacier County, Montana on a fence post on the perimeter of some CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) land on an August evening.
Great Horned Owls and old wood just seem to go together, the warm tones of the wood are a great compliment to the same tones in the plumage of Great Horned Owls.
I love the descriptive name "Tiger of the Sky" when referring to Great Horned Owls, they are fierce, fearless and ferocious and the young owl in the image above is a 'Tiger in the Sky" in the making.
Great Horned Owls and old wood seem to go together like salt and pepper, stars and stripes or peanut butter and jelly, they are a great combination!
I'm extremely fond of owls, it might be their forward facing eyes that draws me to them. Of course I love all birds but to me owls are special.
This female Great Horned Owl was resting at the opening of an old granary in Glacier County, Montana when I photographed her.
People are fascinated by owls, I know I am. It might be that owls have forward facing eyes like this Great Horned Owlet. Those eyes truly draw a person in.
This mated pair of Great Horned Owls were resting in the opening of an old granary in Glacier County, Montana when I photographed them in June of 2009.
Currently throughout the breeding range of Great Horned Owls the owls have either begun to nest or have nested already. Great Horned Owls have a large range and are found in the U.S., Canada and Central America.
During my travels in Montana earlier this month I saw loads of Savannah Sparrows and although there were many in southwestern Montana I only photographed the ones on the farm in Glacier County.
In Utah I don't often have the opportunity to see and photograph White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) because they have a very limited range here so I was thrilled to have the chance to photograph this doe close up as she fed between the gravel road and a barley field in Glacier County, Montana.
Fluffy Great Horned Owl fledgling + knotty weathered wood + large yellow eyes = Wonderful!
This Short-eared Owl image was taken just a little over a year ago in Glacier County, Montana. I still remember how cooperative this male was, the gorgeous golden light of the setting sun and the great location.
This male Short-eared Owl in evening light was photographed last year in Glacier County, Montana not too long before the sun set.