Patience is absolutely a must for bird photographers and it doesn't hurt to throw a little crazy in the mix too. Spending two hours in freezing temps to photograph a bird might be a little crazy.
It might look like this Great Blue Heron is hacking up some type of fluid seen in between and to the left of its bill but that is actually a hunk of ice attached to the heron's breast feathers.
Male Ring-necked Pheasants are a bold splash of rainbow colors against the white snow laying on the ground right now at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area.
The American Kestrel had just finished devouring a small bird of some sort, I really couldn't tell what it was because there were only a few small feathers left by the time I spotted the tiny falcon and when we stopped to photographer her.
Common Goldeneyes are diving sea ducks that over winter in the Salt Lake Valley where I see and photograph them at Bear River National Wildlife Refuge, along the causeway to Antelope Island State Park and at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area.
Eye color can be used to sex juvenile Northern Harriers, brown for juvenile females and yellowish for the males and this harrier is a definite brown-eyed beauty.
I have mentioned in recent posts that winter can be harsh in the Salt Lake Valley in posts with images I had taken at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area so I wanted to share these two images taken there yesterday.
One of the food items that White-crowned Sparrows depend on during the harsh winters in Utah are the fluffy seeds of the Rabbitbrush that can be covered in hoar frost.
While I was photographing some ducks and grebes yesterday I spotted this female Northern Harrier in flight coming in from the south and when she flew over the water I was able to get a series of images of her against the sky.
Yesterday the lowest temperature I saw at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area was -12F which reinforces the thought that "bird photography isn't for everyone" and that winters in Utah are hard on the birds.
I normally see American Kestrels with voles as prey but seeing her with the American Pipit once again showed me why American Kestrels used to be called Sparrow Hawks which is why some people probably still use that name.
All of the snow we have now reminded me of being on Antelope Island State Park last January and photographing birds and Coyotes in near whiteout conditions.
I like this atypical Mule Deer because he isn't typical instead he is different, he stands out.
Some times when I open a photo I took I can't help but laugh for various reasons, in this case when I opened the file the pose of this Ruddy Duck female just "quacked" me up.
Waves, warm sand, a camera in hand and a Tricolored Heron. Such simple things but they bring such great pleasure.
Ferruginous Hawks are the largest hawk in North America which are only found in Canada and the United States and recent DNA analysis suggests that Ferruginous Hawks may be closer to Eagles in taxonomy than that of a hawk.
Eight months ago I spotted two Mountain Plovers on Antelope Island State Park and I am still blown away by seeing and photographing those beautiful shorebirds who are uncommon in Utah.
I photographed this Semipalmated Plover as it foraged along the Gulf of Mexico in Florida in 2008 while I laid flat on the wet sand getting soaked as the waves pushed onto the shore around the sand bar in the distance.
The first time I went to Antelope Island State Park was on July 28, 2008 and among the wonderful things that I saw and photographed that trip were hundreds of American Avocets along the causeway to the island.
Some of my images make me laugh and this Osprey image with a Flounder that weighs almost as much as the bird does make me laugh.
I like Brown Pelicans and even though I don't see them here in Utah I have plenty of images on file that I took during the period of time that I lived in Florida.
I have so very much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. I see the most incredible things in nature, I am blessed to be able to capture it all through my lens.
Simple things in nature delight me so being able to photograph this juvenile White-crowned Sparrow on a wild rose did just that, it delighted me.
Great Blue Herons are year round residents at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area here in northern Utah which means they deal with bitter cold, snow covered ground and icy water.
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.
There isn't much of a change between the plumage in breeding and nonbreeding White Ibis, primarily the differences are in the legs, bill and lores.
I love to get images of the American Bison and the Great Salt Lake in the same frame especially if there are mountains in the background so I was happy to get the snow covered Wasatch Mountains and the Great Salt Lake in this image
I photographed these Black Skimmers in flight at the north beach of Fort De Soto County Park in Florida one cool January morning.
Snowy Egret in the mangroves below the footbridge so I ducked down and hid behind the mangroves at the base of the bridge to photograph the egret
Back in March of 2009 while I was photographing a Great Blue Heron on the north beach of Fort De Soto County Park in Florida a Great Egret flew in and walked close to the Great Blue Heron and me.