Burrowing Owl At Its Burrow On A Cloudy Day
I photographed this Burrowing Owl adult at its burrow earlier this week not too long after a huge bank of clouds moved over Antelope Island State Park.
I photographed this Burrowing Owl adult at its burrow earlier this week not too long after a huge bank of clouds moved over Antelope Island State Park.
I'm keeping my daily post simple today, as simple as a Mourning Dove close up I photographed on Antelope Island last spring taken while it moved through the dew laden grasses.
I saw quite a few Long-billed Curlews yesterday wandering in the spring grasses and this time I was able to get nice images of them. Nicknames for Long-billed Curlews include "sicklebird" and "candlestick bird."
American White Pelicans are returning to their breeding grounds in Utah and I have already seen a few of them myself and though I haven't been able to photograph them yet I know I will soon.
The best bird photography opportunity of the day happened when I spotted a Burrowing Owl near its burrow and I took advantage of the nice light to take quite a few images of the owl framed by grasses and blooming Red-stem Filaree.
Yesterday morning I was able to spend time photographing a pair of Chukars on Antelope Island State Park in a grassy area that has begun to turn green.
Western Meadowlarks are very active right now on the island, searching for insects, scurrying through the grasses and singing their hearts out from their favorite perches.
The most interesting activities I saw yesterday were territorial behaviors and chases between two male Horned Larks in an open area of the park.
When I found a Black-billed Magpie on the rocks close to the road below Frary Peak I was happy to photograph it there.
The first of March always makes me think of and listen for Long-billed Curlews, our largest shorebird of North America.
I expect to see Greater Yellowlegs soon because they are one of the first shorebirds to migrate through Utah on their way to their breeding grounds.
I will be listening for the male Marsh Wrens songs at the pond nearby and the marshes at Farmington Bay WMA and Bear River MBR and waiting to see them pop up on top of the cattails, phrags and rushes.
I was excited and delighted to spot and photograph a coyote running on the ice of the Great Salt Lake a few days ago in the golden light just after dawn.
These portraits of bison bulls drinking from an iced over puddle were taken with my Nikon D500, my 500mm VR lens with a teleconverter attached from inside a vehicle.
I spent forty-one minutes observing and photographing this Peregrine Falcon yesterday while it rested, preened and stretched right next to the Great Salt Lake.
This Brewer's Blackbird male was with several other males on some weathered wooden pallets next to the road when he shook and fluffed up his feathers.
I have mentioned before how one good bird can make a day and yesterday that bird was a male American Kestrel resting and preening at Farmington Bay WMA.
I did not see many birds that dreary day but I did have fun photographing a Coyote hunting, catching and consuming a vole in low light conditions.
American Coots are quarrelsome birds and they are quick to give chase whether it is over food or territory and they will fight, sometimes even to death, for both.
When I saw this Pied-billed Grebe bathing at Farmington Bay I couldn't resist photographing it as it splashed water all over itself.
I spent time photographing a few Rough-legged Hawks but my personal choice for birds of the day were the Common Mergansers I observed and photographed.
There are some that say the state can better care for those lands. I'd call them fools but we humans are all distant cousins so I'll tame that down a bit and call them misled instead. Intentionally and deliberately misled.
My best find of the day was a Peregrine Falcon in the snow perched on a colorful boulder with a snowy background.
The American Kestrel was perched on an arching wild rose branch with prey in his bill when I photographed him with snow covered ice and the Wasatch Mountains in the background
Many of the birds here in the Salt Lake Valley find a place to roost in the evening and overnight frost begins to accumulate on their feathers like it did on this Rough-legged Hawk on a parking sign.
The question regarding this proposal is... Willet happen?
The male American Kestrel caught my eye immediately because he has such a pale chest that the spots on his chest stood out like tiny black jewels set in a field of snow white.
Almost three years ago today I spent time photographing a Red-tailed Hawk at Farmington Bay that was hunting in a snowy field while using a nest box as a perch to watch for prey.
I think this Rough-legged Hawk has read one too many hysterical Tweets lately. I know I have.
While photographing a Great Blue Heron at the first bridge I spotted a dark shape running, slipping and sliding on the snow-covered ice and could see that it was a Raccoon.