This is National Wildlife Refuge Week and in celebration I wanted to do a pictorial essay that includes some of my images of the Birds of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
When I photographed this bison bull grazing on a crisp January morning I recall how cold my hands and cheeks were and that I could hear the crunching sounds the bull made as he ate.
I was able to lock on to the Herring Gull in flight with a sea urchin in its bill when it was close enough to me to fill the frame, it was almost too close at that point.
The Great Egret struggled to swallow the large fish and even though it readjusted the fish in its bill several times it never swallowed the fish before it dropped it into the lagoon and flew off.
Yesterday I was able to photograph a few White-crowned Sparrow adults feeding on seeds of rabbitbrush and greasewood on Antelope Island State Park.
It might be a long drive in the wee hours of the morning to get to where these Burrowing Owls are in northern Utah during the breeding season but they are worth it
This photo shows the sub-adult Red-tailed Hawk in flight in the glow of the evening light just a split second after it had lifted off from a perch further away.
This beautiful Northern Shoveler drake in breeding plumage was photographed in one of those no hunting areas on New Years Day 2015 at Farmington Bay.
I like that Esther the Eaglet is written with children in mind and that it might inspire the children who read it to become rehabilitators, biologists, ornithologists, nature lovers, birders, environmentalists or even bird photographers like myself.
I'll be out photographing birds like this Willet foraging in the Gulf of Mexico, other wildlife and the beauty of nature.
Yesterday I found a trio of young Raccoons at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and was able to take a series of images of them from inside my Jeep as they cautiously checked me out.
There were Snowy Egrets, juvenile Black-crowned Night Herons, Great Blue Herons and this White-faced-Ibis foraging at Farmington Bay to photograph.
I enjoyed seeing the Red-tailed Hawks yesterday and observing their nesting maintenance behavior in the Fall, I don't see it very often so it makes it special to me.
Mid-morning I found a perched intermediate morph Swainson's Hawk in Box Elder County and was delighted when it didn't fly off immediately.
Even though I am saying a fond farewell to the Swainson's Hawks I'm also looking forward to Rough-legged Hawks gracing my life for another season.
It was wonderful to be close to the juvenile Brown Pelican and to be able to take portraits of it plus I also enjoyed being able to see all the fine details of its plumage, the texture of its bill and look into its dark eyes.
I've always loved this image of a Forster's Tern in flight because the pose is wonderful and the tern looks elegant against the gray of a distant storm cloud.
Almost a year ago I felt very fortunate to be able to take a series of Snowy Egret portraits at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area in Northern Utah.
When I found this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk on a lichen covered boulder in Idaho I took a little over 160 frames of it.
When I go on trips to Montana and Idaho it is primarily about finding and photographing birds but the places I visit are so beautiful that I feel I have to photograph the scenic views too.
I photographed these two Red-tailed Hawks near old route 91 in Idaho which runs close to Interstate 15, part of the road is still paved and part of it is gravel.
I spent some time in the Centennial Valley of Montana yesterday and the best bird of the morning was this adult Prairie Falcon photographed on a cattle chute with a white cloud in the background.
I was able to fire a burst of shots showing the juvenile Red-tailed Hawk taking off from a conifer and liked the second and third shots in the series the most.
I do love the look I was getting from the sub-adult Red-tailed Hawk just before it flew away to land on a perch on the other side of the railroad tracks
When I photographed this male Yellow-headed Blackbird displaying at Bear River MBR it was a beautiful May morning and all the birds there were singing.
I photographed this Red-breasted Merganser floating on the Gulf of Mexico on an April morning from the shoreline at Fort De Soto, Florida in April of 2008.
When I photographed this Red-tailed Hawk lifting off from the nest it was in mid-April and I don't believe they had laid their eggs yet.
American Pipits will soon be migrating through the Salt Lake Valley and I will hear their flight calls along the causeway to Antelope Island and the fields at Farmington Bay WMA.
Right after I photographed this Snowy Egret landing it started to chase after another egret that had a small fish and they both flew off with their backs to me.
I've been meaning to post images of this sub-adult Swainson's Hawk in low light for about a year now and I am finally getting around to it.