Over the past month I thought about whether I wanted to share images and tell the story of this Western Meadowlark that lost its life because of a barbed wire death trap and finally decided that the story needed to be told.
Seeing and photographing the Bushtits in northern Utah was a gift that I didn't expect yesterday and I am grateful to finally have images of them that I like.
This Warbling Vireo wasn't the last vireo I saw before they migrated but it was the last one where I was able to take photos of this species out in the open this year.
The past couple of weeks on some of my journeys to the West Desert of Utah I have been able to have a few long distance views of Ferruginous Hawks and that has me excited.
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.
This is a really simple photo with three features, the White-crowned Sparrow, the stump, and a very dark background.
The Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Wild Turkeys and the Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay made the very bumpy and extremely dusty ride into the mountain canyons well worth taking.
This male Mountain Bluebird seemed to glow in the early morning light which was in sharp contrast with the shadows on the mountains in the background.
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.
Red-breasted Nuthatches aren't easy to photograph because they are tiny, they move quickly and their flight patterns are fairly unpredictable. Finding the right habitat, their habitat, can make it fun.
Last week I found a small herd of does and fawns on a gravel road that leads to the foothills and mountain canyons of the Stansbury Mountains that hung around long enough to be photographed.
I didn't get the photos I wanted of the sparrows perched on the rabbitbrush but I like this portrait of the young White-crowned Sparrow in front of it just as well.
Last month when I spotted a Desert Cottontail in the mountains of the West Desert I knew I wanted to take photos of the rabbit especially since it was so close that I could take portraits of it.
I know where in the mountains to find Townsend’s Solitaires by seeing them, hearing them and by knowing their preferred habitat.
I don't know how many times I have said "expect the unexpected" since I began photographing birds while talking to fellow photographers.
There were a few times when the Wild Turkeys stood upright and looked right at me as I photographed them and I took full advantage of the opportunity to take portraits of the large birds.
This adult female Northern Flicker and a male were both foraging for hawthorn berries when I spotted them from across a creek high in the Wasatch Mountains.
The Rock Squirrel was grasping a sumac branch and the shrub was so close to me I wasn't even sure I was going to be able to focus on it.
I noticed immediately that the Red-tailed Hawk was on prey because I saw it tearing into something despite the grasses that were partially obstructing my view.
September is a marvelous time for photographing Snowy Egrets in the freshwater marshes that surround the Great Salt Lake.
Yesterday afternoon I spent thirty-one minutes photographing migrating Yellow-rumped Warblers close to home and those warblers kept me on my toes.
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.
There are times I see funny things while I am out photographing that tickle me so much that I have to laugh out loud and yesterday that was this Least Chipmunk with a fly on its head.
When this Warbling Vireo popped into my view I knew if I wanted to photograph it I had to hurry because these small vireos move fast.
American Robins seemed especially abundant yesterday high in the Wasatch Mountains and I was happy to photograph them foraging on the ripe berries of a hawthorn.
Three days ago while I was up in the Wasatch Mountains I had an immature Wilson's Warbler in my viewfinder for just a few moments.
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.
This morning I wanted to share a potpourri of Ruby-crowned Kinglet photos because I adore seeing and photographing these quick moving, charismatic little birds.
Eleven days ago I photographed an adult Sage Thrasher regurgitating the seed of a sumac berry that was so close I could barely fit the thrasher in the frame.
When this Mountain Chickadee came into view it was hanging from a juniper bough with two Douglas Fir seeds in its bill it appeared to be looking around for a place to cache its food.