Diving American Coot – Breaking My Own Rules
Typically I have a personal rule about having eye contact with my subject and I also want a catch light but to get this coot photo I had to break my own bird photography rules.
Typically I have a personal rule about having eye contact with my subject and I also want a catch light but to get this coot photo I had to break my own bird photography rules.
I was only going to share this image today but as I processed this photo I thought about all the times I have photographed American Kestrels on this same exact post over the years.
All three of the Hooded Mergansers were close to me because there was a shelf of ice that prevented them from swimming out into the middle of the pond.
Finding two uncommon birds this week at the same olive tree really has me buzzed and to finally see a Rusty Blackbird has made me feel like jumping over the moon.
I found an immature Red-tailed Hawk in the marsh at Farmington Bay WMA yesterday and spent 28 minutes photographing it including when a Northern Harrier harassed it.
I saw a few harriers on the wing yesterday at Farmington Bay WMA and I was able to take a few photos of a female Northern Harrier that still had frost on her nape.
When I see American Bison at Antelope Island State Park I am always very aware of how close we came to losing them entirely and that fact makes me appreciate them even more.
I could see a Bald Eagle being chased by a gull in the sky and my heart skipped a beat because I know it is time for me to keep an eye on the sky for Bald Eagles again.
Three days ago I spotted an immature Great Blue Heron resting at the edge of the water at Farmington Bay WMA and couldn't resist taking photos of it.
You take photos of ten species of birds and the twelve photos of a Ring-billed Gull in flight are the images you are the most excited to view when you get home.
Any time I can see and photograph two falcon species in a single day is a great day and yesterday I photographed a Prairie Merlin and several American Kestrels.
Today bison are being reintroduced to lands that they were extirpated from centuries ago and for bison lovers that is cause for celebration of this iconic mammal.
It has been too long since I have had a Northern Harrier in my viewfinder although I'm now excited because I know that fall and winter are great seasons for me to find and photograph them.
In the right light Brewer's Blackbird males are very colorful because their feathers glow with blue, green, and purple iridescence.
I don't have nearly enough Gadwall photos in my portfolios and I honestly don't know why that is the case since they are year round residents here in northern Utah.
Yesterday opportunity knocked when several Lesser Goldfinches flew in to knosh on wild sunflowers seeds near a road at Farmington Bay WMA.
Being concerned about shorebirds in harsh winter weather isn't unusual but despite their delicate appearance these shorebirds are tough.
I can barely wait to hear and see my first of season Tundra Swans and to see them on the wing over the marshes that surround the Great Salt Lake.
Last year by this date I had taken hundreds of photos of American Pipits. So far this autumn I have taken Nada. Zip. Zero. Zilch.
I'm hoping that this week I'll be able to spot my first of the season Rough-legged Hawks and that I'll be able to get photos of them too. Fingers are crossed!
The stark contrast of the white plumage of the Snowy Egret against the darkness of shadows on the vegetation and water made the egret appear to glow.
One of the seasonal changes I look for in autumn is when I see that the Dark-eyed Juncos have arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.
I spent sometime at Farmington Bay WMA yesterday morning where my best bird of the day was an immature Red-tailed Hawk resting in a tree.
September is a marvelous time for photographing Snowy Egrets in the freshwater marshes that surround the Great Salt Lake.
It was a terrific "season opener" for me yesterday thanks to my keen observation skills at Farmington Bay WMA with a Green Heron, one-eared Long-tailed Weasel and a one-eyed American White Pelican.
I look at this seasonal change as a personal challenge to grow, to adapt and to meet my bird photography goals. I'm looking forward to the challenges and changes ahead.
It is the season of phalarope migration here in the Great Basin hub of the Pacific Flyway and one of the best places to view these shorebirds is along the causeway to Antelope Island State Park.
I spent some time yesterday morning focusing on photographing the spiders of Antelope Island State Park on the island and the causeway to it because this is a great time of the year to see them.
Five days ago I photographed a lifer dragonfly when I found a male Twelve-spotted Skimmer that was hanging around a spring-fed seep next to a gravel road in Box Elder County.
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.