While I had the Sandhill Crane and the Ring-billed Gulls in my view finder I heard a call and it only took a second for my brain to figure out that I was hearing a Franklin's Gull which surprised me because it was at the refuge much earlier than I have ever seen one there before.
Our Tundra Swans won't be at the refuge much longer and will soon be winging their way to their breeding grounds in the Arctic and I realize that my opportunities to photograph them before they leave are dwindling.
Migrating Western Grebes are already being reported at Utah Lake, Bountiful Pond and Farmington Bay WMA and before too long they will be found at other locations here in northern Utah.
This Orange-crowned Warbler was only in my viewfinder for about a minute but she gave me great views and quite a few different poses to photograph and I was delighted with the photos I took.
I've had a like - dislike relationship with this male Yellow-rumped Warbler photo since I took it during migration last spring.
On one of the brighter afternoons I spent just 15 minutes at the local pond and came away with lots of photos of winter California Gulls bathing, flying and landing and among those I liked this image the most.
I love the darkness and the light in the stormy sky in the background, how well lit the Short-eared Owl was and the position of his wings in flight and I like that he is small in this frame because this is often the view that I and others have of these wonderful owls in the field.
Before too long these small but handsome American Tree Sparrows will be winging their way north to their breeding grounds in the thickets and open tundra of northern Canada and Alaska.
When I saw this immature American Robin perched in some bushes that were starting to show the colors of autumn I knew I wanted to photograph it, so I did.
I adore sparrows and photograph them whenever I can so when this Chipping Sparrow popped up on a wild rose bush and looked in my direction I was ready to take its photo.
Would you be able to ID this hawk from just this image or similar view of it in the field if I hadn't already identified it in my title and my photo caption?
I always feel fortunate when I am able to photograph winter Barn Owls in flight during daylight hours but that means that these gorgeous owls are struggling to stay alive and that is a concern for me.
I photographed this White-tailed Antelope Squirrel in 2016 near Torrey in Wayne County, Utah, the squirrel was resting on a boulder a couple hundred yards away from where I was camping.
I'm not sure I have ever been as close to a Pine Siskin as I was to this one before, I'm glad this siskin decided to delight me with its presence even though it was just for a very brief time.
I've never been this close to a Rough-legged Hawk expelling a pellet before and it is likely that I will never be this fortunate again. This Rough-legged Hawk was my best bird for the day and I'm glad I stopped and waited for him to expel the pellet before moving on down the auto tour route.
On February 16th I woke to fresh snow on the ground and I knew I wanted to see if the American Robins were still feeding in the crabapple trees close to home.
Even though my primary focus was on photographing Bald Eagles I wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to take photos of the other birds I saw on the wing at Farmington Bay that morning.
I'd gotten the long distance images of the Bald Eagles at Farmington Bay that I wanted to take plus close up images of this adult eagle as it flew past me. It was a great morning to be at Farmington Bay.
I drove up to Farmington Bay WMA yesterday morning because it looked like there was going to be some nice light and because the forecast for the next week looks rather dismal for bird photography and I'm so very glad I went because I was able to photograph my first of the year American White Pelicans.
It isn't all that often that I am able to photograph a calling Ring-billed Gull close enough that I can get a great view of the inside of its bill so when the opportunity presented itself earlier this week I took advantage of the situation.
Two days ago on my immature Double-crested Cormorant post I mentioned that prior to photographing the cormorant that I had been taking images of a Great Blue Heron, these two photos are of that heron.
Two afternoons ago when I left the local pond to head home I saw at least 75-100 foraging American Robins in some crabapple trees and on the ground in the snow.
This immature Double-crested Cormorant appears to be molting and probably needs all the rest it can get because of the molt and because winter is hard on these overwintering cormorants.
I took a long series of photos of this male American Kestrel in a tree at Farmington Bay WMA back in January and decided that I liked these two photos of the kestrel the best.
At the end of January I had a few opportunities to photograph some American Crows in nice light on snow and ice at Farmington Bay WMA. I jumped at the opportunity of course.
So, even though I didn't get great photos yesterday I was glad to get out and photograph a Barn Owl, Bald Eagle and these California and Ring-billed Gulls.
I had a Common Raven that was close enough to get a few images of it in flight and it excited me.
I was tickled to photograph this Chukar six years ago because it showed off its subtle colors and patterns so nicely against a canvas of white snow.
This pair of Canada Geese were photographed last winter near the Jordan River close to where I live at the tail end of a storm similar to the storm occurring right now.
The slow chase was soon to change and before I knew it both Pied-billed Grebes started running across the water and the grebe with the crayfish started racing across the water with the crayfish dangling from its bill.