Cooler Weather Today In Northern Utah
I woke this morning and opened my living room window to the smell of rain in the air and even in the darkness I could see that the street was wet and I am okay with that, we need the moisture.
I woke this morning and opened my living room window to the smell of rain in the air and even in the darkness I could see that the street was wet and I am okay with that, we need the moisture.
Last week while I was up in the Wasatch Mountains photographing birds I had a Least Chipmunk pop into my view while it ate a serviceberry.
I hoped the Sage Thrasher would come closer so that I could photograph it and just about the time the Short-eared Owl lifted off the thrasher popped up on a nearby metal post.
I took quite a few photos of the fledgling Short-eared Owl that I had a clear view of and even though the lighting wasn't the best I was enchanted by the views I had of it.
I had a spectacular morning yesterday high up in the Wasatch Mountains and among the highlights of the day was a herd of cow Elk moving down a hillside just before 9 o'clock.
One of the birds I was excited to see and photograph yesterday morning was an adult Eastern Kingbird perched on a pickleweed next to the road.
This plant is Black Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) and is also known as Henbane, Hog’s-bean, and Stinking Nightshade and is native to the Mediterranean.
Last week I was able to photograph Weidemeyer's Admiral butterflies up in the Wasatch Mountains on two consecutive days and the butterflies had me all aflutter.
Three days ago I found an adult Song Sparrow to photograph with its bill full of prey that the sparrow had gathered to feed its young.
I don't see Yellow Warblers foraging in sage very often so I was thrilled to photograph an adult female as she poked around a clump of sagebrush in the Wasatch Mountains yesterday.
It is always a thrill when birds fly in close to me and that is what happened yesterday with a handsome male Belted Kingfisher.
I'm always happy to photograph "other things with wings" when I am out in the field so last week when I spotted my first of year Monarch butterfly I had to take a few photos of it.
Three days ago one of the birds that the Song Sparrows chased off was an adult female Brown-headed Cowbird that landed on a serviceberry in front of me.
There have been a few times that the Song Sparrows have gotten so close to me that I've felt as if I could almost reach out and touch them.
Female Broad-tailed Hummingbirds do all the nest building, incubating, feeding and rearing of their young while they are here during their breeding season.
I don't know for sure if I will see another Short-eared Owl to photograph this year but I do know I had fun photographing these three.
When I spotted this sharp-looking, adult male Lazuli Bunting less than 30 feet away from where I sat in a mobile blind on the side of the road I almost jumped with joy.
Over time I have come to associate Say's Phoebes with sagebrush because I don't think I have ever seen or photographed one of these phoebes where there wasn't sage nearby here in northern Utah.
Yesterday I was allowed a peek into the leaf-bathing behavior of this MacGillivray's Warbler I photographed high in the Wasatch Mountains.
I'd forgotten about this Painted Lady butterfly I photographed in August of 2017 that I found while photographing hummingbirds on Antelope Island State Park.
I don’t think it was a “King of the castle” kind of behavior going on but what do I know, I am not a bird!
I am not just a bird photographer. I am also a student of nature each and every time I venture into the field because being out there teaches me something new on practically every journey.
Despite the difficulties I have finding and photographing MacGillivray's Warblers I will keep trying to take better images of them.
This morning I'm grateful that I spotted a single Gray Catbird pop up on top of a snowberry bush yesterday morning because if I hadn't none of the following photos would have been possible.
I know from experience that when I post Mallard photos and write about them here on my site that they don't seem to get as many views as other birds do.
When this adult male Yellow Warbler landed in a willow near me I was more than happy to photograph him surrounded by the willows.
Yesterday I saw this female Black-chinned Hummingbird land on a willow branch not far from where I sat in a mobile blind and I was delighted to photograph her.
I found these two foraging Greater Sage-Grouse high up on the Aquarius Plateau in Wayne County, Utah five years ago today.
And I then had an "Ah ha" moment. No wonder I thought I was hearing a Cedar Waxwing when in actuality it was the American Robin calling out because of a predator that I did not see.
As I went through the images I took four years ago this photo of a female Mountain Bluebird perched on an old fence post with prey for her young in her bill stood out to me.