Utah

Uinta Ground Squirrels With Blue, Green And Gold Backgrounds

By |May 12th, 2020|Categories: Summit County, Uinta Ground Squirrels, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Early this month I was able to create this golden background by having leafless willows that line the creek below the road behind the Uinta Ground Squirrel when I photographed it.

Female Broad-Tailed Hummingbird Feeding, Hovering And Resting

By |May 8th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

A few days ago I photographed my first of the season Broad-tailed Hummingbird and I was elated that the bird was a female.

One Bad Mama Mountain Bluebird And Her Swiss Army Knife

By |May 6th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Mountain Bluebirds, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Imagine my surprise when through my viewfinder I could see that the female Mountain Bluebird had landed on a Swiss Army knife that was stuck into the bark of one of the trees.

Female MacGillivray’s Warbler Perched In A Blooming Serviceberry

By |May 4th, 2020|Categories: Birds, MacGillivray's Warblers, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

This female MacGillivray’s Warbler popped into view briefly two years ago high in the Wasatch Mountains and even though she never came out into the open I enjoyed how she was surrounded by the white blooms of a Utah Serviceberry.

Green-tailed Towhees Are Migrating Into Utah

By |May 3rd, 2020|Categories: Birds, Green-tailed Towhees, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

One year ago today I "whooped" out loud when I spotted my first of the year Green-tailed Towhee singing as he perched in top of a sagebrush.

Vesper Sparrows In Spring

By |April 28th, 2020|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Utah, Vesper Sparrows|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Earlier this month I spotted my first of year Vesper Sparrow way up north in Box Elder County and since then I have been looking for them closer to home in the Wasatch Mountains.

Wax Currants, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds And Their Favorite Perches

By |April 27th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Summit County, Tooele County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, West Desert|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

In just a matter of days Wax Currants will start to bloom in some of the lower elevations of the mountains that aren't far from where I live and that has me excited.

Uinta Ground Squirrels Eating Earthworms

By |April 26th, 2020|Categories: Summit County, Uinta Ground Squirrels, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Two days ago I photographed something I had never seen or documented when I stopped to take photos of a Uinta Ground Squirrel and it started eating a big, fat earthworm.

Focusing On Belted Kingfishers High In The Wasatch Mountains

By |April 25th, 2020|Categories: Belted Kingfishers, Birds, Morgan County, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I spent yesterday morning high up in the Wasatch Mountains where part of the time I focused on photographing the Belted Kingfishers that I found in two counties.

Red-breasted Nuthatch And Juniper Titmouse Photos

By |April 22nd, 2020|Categories: Birds, Juniper Titmouses, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

These are the stories behind how I took these Red-breasted Nuthatch and Juniper Titmouse photos while relaxing and enjoying a lovely day in the West Desert.

Photographing Blooming Glacier Lilies

By |April 21st, 2020|Categories: Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wildflowers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I enjoyed my journey to photograph the Glacier Lilies yesterday, it was quiet, peaceful and very relaxing. No news, no negativity, and not thinking about what a mess our world is in helped me to de-stress.

Adult Male American Avocet Stretching His Wings

By |April 20th, 2020|Categories: American Avocets, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Six years ago in early April I went to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and photographed this male American Avocet stretching his wings while his head was low to the water.

Male Burrowing Owl At His Burrow Plus Waking To An Empty Amber Alert

By |April 19th, 2020|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Burrowing Owls, Davis County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

One year ago today I spent time photographing an adult male Burrowing Owl at his burrow that was surrounded by Redstem Filaree, a pink wildflower.

Finding Wild Turkey Hens Roosting In Aspens

By |April 18th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wild Turkeys|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I got out into the field for a little while yesterday morning and because of the observation skills I have developed over many years I was able to find two Wild Turkey hens roosting in Aspen trees.

My First Of Year Snowy Egret Sightings

By |April 17th, 2020|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Snowy Egrets, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Three days ago I spotted my first of the year Snowy Egret at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge when two egrets flew out of a ditch on the way to the auto tour loop.

Fledgling Short-eared Owl Parallaxing From An Old Wooden Post

By |April 16th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Short-eared Owls, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The young Short-eared Owl in this photo was parallaxing when I photographed it in which basically means the fledgling owl was moving its head to gain different viewpoints.

Adult Eared Grebe At Bear River MBR Plus A 4.2 Aftershock

By |April 15th, 2020|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Eared Grebes, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The light yesterday morning was a little bit funky because of high, thin clouds overhead but I took a few photos of the birds that I was able to get close to including one of the Eared Grebes.

Photographing Willow Flycatchers

By |April 13th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Willow Flycatchers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Once I'm in Willow Flycatcher habitat the next thing I do is to listen for them. I often hear Willow Flycatchers before I see them because they can blend into their habitat well.

My First Of Year Gray Catbird – Heard But Not Seen

By |April 12th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Gray Catbirds, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

On April 2nd in a canyon in some mountains of the West Desert of Utah I heard a familiar call, the mewing call of a Gray Catbird while I was looking for birds to photograph.

Thermoregulating Turkey Vulture Close Up

By |April 11th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Turkey Vultures, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Mornings have still been fairly chilly here in northern Utah and the Turkey Vultures that recently arrived on spring migration have been taking advantage of the rising sun by thermoregulating to help chase off the chill.

West Desert Wild Turkey Tom Strutting And Displaying

By |April 10th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Wild Turkeys|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I took hundreds of photos of the tom Wild Turkey fanning his tail, walking on the dirt road, strutting and displaying for the hens I could not see. And for those moments all seemed right in the world.

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