Western Bluebirds in Tooele County
Seeing these uncommon Western Bluebirds in Tooele County in the Stansbury Mountain Range yesterday is part of why I love bird photography so much.
Seeing these uncommon Western Bluebirds in Tooele County in the Stansbury Mountain Range yesterday is part of why I love bird photography so much.
Yesterday I had my first opportunity to photograph a nearby female Belted Kingfisher in Salt Lake County, Utah and I had fun getting to know her.
I was able to take this male Brewer's Blackbird portrait as it perched next to the road that shows the iridescent colors in his plumage quite nicely.
I know I am looking forward to photographing and watching the Black-billed Magpie nest building ballet that occurs each spring.
I ended up capturing an image of a juvenile White-crowned Sparrow photobombing the adult just a few frames later.
Yesterday I took a few images of a Horned Lark male singing on Antelope Island State Park and it reminded me that I hadn't posted this image of a female Horned Lark that I photographed last year.
Last August I was able to spend time observing and photographing this juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron stalking prey at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
At the end of January there was a nice, clear morning at Farmington Bay WMA and I spotted a juvenile female Northern Harrier in a field of snow next to the road who was a cooperative subject.
I thought a comparison of adult and juvenile White-faced Ibis might be interesting for those of you who aren't familiar with this western species of ibis.
The Snowy Egrets of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge never fail to delight me with their bright white plumage, golden feet, bright yellow lores and feathery plumes.
I went looking for a Snowy Owl and got Barn Owls in flight instead at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
There isn't much open water right now but in a few places where it is open it attracts waterfowl including this bathing Common Merganser male in breeding plumage.
I am always grateful to see Barn Owls in winter and to be able to photograph them in sweet light is a delight.
It isn't every day that I have the opportunity to photograph an American Kestrel attacking a Red-tailed Hawk in the air, in fact this would have been my best opportunity.
I did spot a juvenile Northern Harrier in the fog resting on a clump of vegetation in the snow covered field on the east side of the road and took a few images of it.
I took this image of a Western Grebe in late Summer last year at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge when the marsh vegetation has started to turn gold and mornings had begun to feel crisp and invigorating.
I had to share at least one image of this Mountain Cottontail on Antelope Island State Park that showed its little, fluffy white tail, after all that is where they get part of their name.
Ring-billed and California Gulls are the typical gulls I find in Utah so it wasn't much of a surprise to find this California Gull at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
It is interesting to see this whirlpool effect of Northern Shovelers on the surface of the Great Salt Lake and to hear the sounds of their bills dabbling in the water.
The first bird I raised my lens for yesterday was this Black-billed Magpie in a snowstorm near the visitor center.
Yesterday I was able to photograph juvenile and adult White-crowned Sparrows on the same branch a few minutes apart at a gate at Farmington Bay WMA.
I only have a few portraits of an adult Black-billed Magpie and yesterday I was able to add several of them to my portfolio.
I spent about 15 minutes with this Barn Owl yesterday after I spotted it along the north side of the auto tour loop at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
This American Pipit on a tuft of grass was photographed last November at Farmington Bay WMA and was only one of what appeared to be hundreds of pipits feeding on small insects.
Male American Kestrels look for and locate potential nesting cavities within their territories and inspect them prior to the nesting season.
I spent a little bit of time yesterday morning photographing a few birds including this Northern Harrier in flight over Farmington Bay WMA.
It was the first of the winter Burrowing Owls I was to find yesterday while on Antelope Island State Park.
I was delighted to photograph a female Red-winged Blackbird at White Rock Bay as she perched a dead greasewood branch.
Among those spring migrants that I most look forward to seeing are the Western Burrowing Owls.
A couple Woodhouse's Scrub-Jays in Ophir Canyon Road in Tooele County were the most cooperative of the jays that I found.