Small in the Frame – Bald Eagle

By |January 20th, 2013|Categories: Bald Eagles, Birds, Golden Spike National Historic Site, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday Ron, Brian Gatlin and I went to Bear River National Wildlife Refuge and the Golden Spike National Historic Site area in bad light, falling snow and lake fog looking for birds to photograph and we came up pretty much empty-handed but we did find this adult Bald Eagle perched on some snow-covered rocks going towards the Golden Spike National Historic Site Visitor Center as the snow fell.

Some fun with birds from yesterday

By |January 19th, 2013|Categories: American Barn Owls, Antelope Island State Park, Black-crowned Night Herons, Chukars, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Great Blue Herons, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

A wonderful fun-filled day with great companionship and plenty of birds. I can't ask for more.

I dare the news to report on the senseless slaughter of Coyotes

By |January 18th, 2013|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Conservation, Coyotes, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I dare news agencies to write factual articles about the inhumane practice of slaughtering Coyotes which has been proven by science to be largely ineffective in controlling their population, to observe the Coyotes being blown up in their dens and to witness the suffering of these animals when they are caught in traps.

American Barn Owl Image Choices

By |January 16th, 2013|Categories: American Barn Owls, Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I photographed this perched Barn Owl yesterday at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area in northern Utah near a hill that was covered in snow which gave this image a high key effect.

Ring-necked Pheasant Hen In Snow

By |January 15th, 2013|Categories: Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Ring-necked Pheasants, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I have been noticing more Ring-necked Pheasants than usual of late but that it mostly because the birds don't blend well into the snow and we have had plenty of the white stuff fall the past few weeks.

A Golden Eagle that was TOO close

By |January 13th, 2013|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Golden Eagles, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Early yesterday morning Antelope Island State Park did not have the best conditions for bird photography, there were clouds, a bit of lake fog and low light so when I spotted this Golden Eagle perched on a sagebrush in those conditions I was dismayed.

Great Blue Heron Winter Delight

By |January 13th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Great Blue Herons, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I spotted this Great Blue Heron yesterday at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area and loved the setting with the fresh snow blanketing the steep creek bank.

Changes to On The Wing Photography

By |January 11th, 2013|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Copyright Issues, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Because of image theft I have made some changes to my blog, one of the first that will be noticed by people who have subscribed to my blog is that I will only be using a summary for my published posts from now on.

The ID of the female duck is…

By |January 10th, 2013|Categories: Bird ID, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Green-winged Teals, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The answer to the ID quiz is a female Green-winged Teal! Out of 49 people taking the quiz there were 6 votes for Mallard, 8 votes for Blue-winged Teal, 9 votes for Gadwall and 26 votes for Green-winged Teal.

Female Duck ID Quiz

By |January 8th, 2013|Categories: Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Swans, Ducks and Geese, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

I photographed this female duck yesterday morning at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area in northern Utah, she was on ice that was covered by frost flowers and was moving towards a group of males that were in open water.

Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron – A Winter Treat

By |January 6th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Black-crowned Night Herons, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I've mentioned before that Great Blue Herons stay in the Salt Lake Valley over winter even though the temperatures get very cold and so do some of the Black-crowned Night Herons.

Coyote on a snowy morning

By |January 2nd, 2013|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Coyotes, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The weather forecast for yesterday was "mostly sunny" and once again the weather forecasters were wrong, at least for the period of time I was out photographing on Antelope Island State Park.

Goodbye 2012 – Hello 2013

By |January 1st, 2013|Categories: American Bison, American Kestrels, Antelope Island State Park, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Beaverhead County, Burrowing Owls, California Gulls, Centennial Valley, Coyotes, Montana, Moose, Northern Harriers, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Red-tailed Hawks, Short-eared Owls, Snowy Egrets, Swainson's Hawks, Utah, valley, western skies|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

2012 was a fantastic year for me as a photographer and I am looking forward to the joys that 2013 will bring. Happy New Year to all.

600th post – An Antelope Island Snow Day

By |December 30th, 2012|Categories: American Bison, Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Chukars, Coyotes, Davis County, Utah, Western Meadowlarks, White-crowned Sparrows|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I wanted to share a few images taken two days ago when Antelope Island was covered with a fresh snow fall. The entire island looked glorious and the sunlight caused the snow to sparkle much to my delight.

Common Raven in the snow – An exposure problem

By |December 29th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Common Ravens, Exposure Compensation, Light angles, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Photographing dark birds such as this Common Raven is a challenge and knowing how to expose properly as well as getting the right angle of light is critical in producing a quality image.

Chukar in fresh fallen snow

By |December 28th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Chukars, Davis County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

Fresh snow fell on Antelope Island last night and it made for wonderful settings for the subjects I photographed this morning like this Chukar. I haven't been seeing the Chukars regularly lately so I was very pleased to see them again.

Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge – Christmas Day 2012

By |December 26th, 2012|Categories: Bald Eagles, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Great Blue Herons, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Christmas Day of 2012 turned out to be as beautiful as I hoped at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge because of bright skies, snow on the ground, birds and the expansive views.

Images of Christmas Past – Happy Holidays

By |December 25th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Australia, Bald Eagles, Birds, Burnie, Common Mergansers, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Northern Harriers, Roseate Spoonbills, Tasmania|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday I took a stroll down memory lane, actually I looked for images I have taken either on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day in my files but in a way that is taking a stroll down memory lane.

Juvenile White-crowned Sparrow in a snow storm

By |December 24th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Low light, Small in the frame, Utah, White-crowned Sparrows|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

The White-crowned Sparrow in this image is small in the frame, the bird isn't super sharp and there isn't a lot of contrast or color to the photo either yet the image speaks to me.

More on Escaped Falconry Birds

By |December 23rd, 2012|Categories: American Kestrels, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Peregrine Falcons, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Throughout these three experiences in finding escaped falconry birds what I have learned is that falconry is for experts not for people who just think it is cool to have a pet raptor.

Fledgling Burrowing Owl

By |December 19th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Burrowing Owls, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

This fledgling Burrowing Owl was just learning to fly at the time and wasn't always great at landing. When I took this image it had made a soft crash landing into the Rabbitbrush and it was trying to get its balance back.

Western Meadowlark lift off

By |December 18th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Utah, Western Meadowlarks|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

This Western Meadowlark image was taken last month on Antelope Island State Park. I meant to post it earlier but forgot because I got so busy trying to set up my new computer. Life outside of bird photography does get in the way at times.

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