Sometimes the simplicity of an image is what draws me in and keeps me happily satisfied with it and that is what I enjoy about this photo of a Snowy Egret in flight over the marsh at Bear River MBR, the simplicity.
During the breeding season even the inside of the mouths of Double-crested Cormorants show changes, the lining inside their mouths turns into a deep, electric or cobalt blue.
This photo of a displaying male Brown-headed Cowbird in a goofy upside down pose is not a good photo technically but I absolutely love the behavior it shows.
I know that is probably anthropomorphizing but I do allow myself to giggle about birds I think look "angry" and if any of them do this Western Grebe certainly does.
The soft, early morning light was beautiful when I took these juvenile Cliff Swallow images and I am pleased with how the photos came out.
Three days ago I was tickled to finally see some American Avocet chicks on the marsh at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, I've been waiting to see these little puff balls this year!
It seems I also photographed an odd, little hitchhiker on the lore and bill of the White-faced Ibis when I took these photos.
Both the female and male Killdeer incubate so there is no way for me to tell what the gender of this Killdeer is but it stayed on the scrape while I photographed it and didn't move.
When a bird photography trip up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge starts with me spotting not just one but two Snowy Plovers out on the flats I just know the day is off to a great start and that is what happened yesterday morning.
I wanted to share a five image series of a male Yellow-headed Blackbird that I photographed in the marshes of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge this morning that I took the second week of May.
May is a time of renewal at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and as the marsh begins to green up the migrant birds return and along with the year round residents their songs and calls can be heard over the wetlands.
The fore and background of this image may be messy or cluttered looking but I love the way this photo shows the female Yellow-headed Blackbird in the habitat I find them in at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
I don't know if the Ring-necked Pheasants eat the midges but I know that many of the other birds at the refuge do so I like to think of midges as bird food on the wing.
When I opened this adult Cliff Swallow image on my computer at home the first thought I had was that it looked like the Cliff Swallow was surfing on a phragmites "wave".
I haven't seen or photographed White-faced Ibis perched in the nearly ten years that I have lived here so I was thrilled to have my first opportunity to do so yesterday at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
It really is a simple Great Blue Heron photo with the marsh, a stationary wading bird, vibrant spring growth and water at the top of the frame but it is also a very calming image for me because for a few seconds time stood as still as the heron.
Later in the morning and on the other side of the auto tour route I was able to take images of a hen Cinnamon Teal surrounded by lush, green spring growth while her mate kept an eye on her from a distance.
There isn't a single day in the field where I take my eyesight and my keen spotting abilities for granted and yesterday those attributes netted me not one but two Merlins while I was at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
This White-faced Ibis had been feeding in the shallow water and had gotten its head soaking wet right before I photographed it and the ibis was in the process of getting ready to shake the water from its head feathers.
On my visit to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge last week I didn't see large numbers of American White Pelicans but at this time of the year that is understandable because many of them are probably nesting on Gunnison Island right now.
These elegant black and white Western Grebes are beautiful while they feed, preen, rest and stretch but they are even more striking when they dance across the water while performing their courtship ceremony.
I wonder if GEICO knows that they can drive a birder/bird photographer bonkers as easy as they did me over the winter.
Tree Swallows were the most numerous of the swallows I saw and at the far northwest part of the auto tour route I found bunches of them resting in a stand of phragmites so I decided to get out, set up my tripod and photograph them from across the water.
I have plenty of photos of Clark's, Western and Pied-billed Grebes but few of Eared Grebes and I am hoping that this breeding season I will be able to have more of these small grebes in my viewfinder.
I spent my morning yesterday driving on the very muddy auto tour route at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and the birds that I photographed the most were Killdeer, it seemed like I saw them everywhere.
Marsh Wren nesting season has begun here in northern Utah and in my opinion one of the best places to see, listen to and photograph them is from the auto tour route at Bear River MBR.
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.
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.