I Love Chukars In Snow!
These Chukar images were taken last Friday and this bird is the same one in my post titled "Some fun with birds from yesterday", I wanted to share more photos of it.
These Chukar images were taken last Friday and this bird is the same one in my post titled "Some fun with birds from yesterday", I wanted to share more photos of it.
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.
A wonderful fun-filled day with great companionship and plenty of birds. I can't ask for more.
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.
Ring-necked Pheasant males are far more colorful than the females and in snow they seem even more vividly colored.
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.
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.
American Barn Owls are typically strictly nocturnal but during harsh winters with lots of snow they do hunt during the day here in Utah.
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.
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.
It is almost hard to believe that in just two months these Chukars will be fighting for territories as they begin the mating season while there is over 9 inches of fresh snow on the ground where I live this morning.
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 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.
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.
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.
A few of my non-Utahn friends have asked me what an inversion is after I have mentioned it, this image might help to show what an inversion can look like.
Looking at the huge lobed feet of American Coots is enough to make me laugh. Yesterday I just could not resist these birds.
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.
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.
Yesterday I spotted a covey of Chukars on Antelope Island foraging in the snow, this Chukar was pulling guard duty and standing on top of a snow covered rock and for a bit it was calling.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I photographed this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk flying by last month at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area in Davis County.
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.
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.