Many beginning photographers dream of taking images in far off places of exotic birds and there is nothing wrong with that. But we shouldn’t overlook the advantages of photographing birds close to home.
The sun came out for a few hours yesterday afternoon so I went to a pond near where I live and photographed some of the ducks including this very confiding Redhead drake.
Yesterday I mentioned that I had D.W.B. (Dreary Weather Blues) and after a nice email from a friend last night who reminded me that it is only 7 weeks until the spring equinox I now have the D.O.T.S, better known as Dreaming Of The Sun.
I wanted to post a funny bird image today because I have the D.W.B. so I selected this American Coot that was scratching in a pond near where I live in Salt Lake County, Utah.
The horn is a growth on the bill of American White Pelicans that occurs during the breeding season and I am fortunate to live in a location where these big, white pelicans breed.
This American White Pelican was taking off from a pond near where I live in Salt Lake County and I happened to click the shutter when its wings were extended upwards and when its feet had just slapped the water
This domestic duck image has always made me laugh so I thought I would share it and ask you all to add your funny captions.
American Coots aren't thought of as "gorgeous" birds but I do find them appealing and a challenge to expose properly because of the high contrast between the very dark feathers and the whiteness of the ivory colored bill.
Awhile back someone told me that Mergansers don't change their plumage seasonally, which is of course incorrect as all three species of mergansers that live in North America do.
Three years ago today though the ground was covered in drifts of snow, the temps were below freezing, there was ice on the ponds & lakes and there was a sharp briskness to the air that can only be found in winter.
I photographed this drake Ring-necked Duck in breeding plumage a few years ago on a pond not far from where I live.
As I write this the first snow of winter is falling outside my living room window. For the past week I have seen the snow on the mountain tops and I had been looking forward to seeing the snow covering the Salt Lake Valley.
It was an unusual experience to see these Pied-billed Grebes standing upright and walking on the edge of this pond, some might even consider it rare.
The temps are dropping here in the Salt Lake Valley, two days ago it was below freezing when we went out shooting. Winter brings challenges and birds we don't see during the summer so I am excited about that.
Yesterday I saw a female Black-chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri) checking out the feeder near my front window.
Large groups of Teasels; an introduced "weed", caught my eye in the early morning light
Some images are simply too funny not to share. Even with those huge feet this American Coot (Fulica americana) couldn't stay in top of the ice at a pond near where I live in Salt Lake County, Utah.
Not far from where I live there is a small pond where I photographed this American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos) just after it had lifted off from the water two springs ago.
I was right on the ID and saw not just one but two of American Avocets in flying along the causeway. Wow, more "spring birds"!
American Coots are the most widely distributed members of the Rail family in North America and are very abundant in habitats with open water.
It seems that people either love high key images or they hate them. Personally; I believe that when a high key image is done well that they can be very appealing and have a place for them in my portfolio.
I'm looking forward to the crisp cool air after all the summer heat but most of all I am looking forward to the birds I have missed seeing during the hottest part of the year
This spring and summer I've a little been disappointed by how few Clark's Grebe images I have been able to take.
For days it has been raining (sometimes hailing), cloudy and a miserable gray here in the Salt Lake Valley though it seems like two weeks to this bird photographer.
I can take advantage of the sucker holes by photographing birds close to home when the sun breaks through the clouds.
Old Man Winter is still fighting to retain his icy grip on Utah and doesn't seem to want to to surrender the battle with Spring
American Robin juvenile photographed in my backyard in Utah as it perched above the grass. Robins are the largest and most abundant North American thrushes.
These are just a small selection of the cast and characters of the upcoming Spring Season
Recently the USDA accepted responsibility for a smaller die off in South Dakota which brought to light a little known program called "Bye bye Blackbird" which uses DRC-1339, a poison that is also called an avicide.
I knew that when I woke up this morning there was a very good chance the ground would be covered with snow.