Molting Yellow Warbler Male With A Stubby Little Tail
Some birds that are molting can look a little odd and this molting male Yellow Warbler with a stubby little tails fits that description perfectly.
Some birds that are molting can look a little odd and this molting male Yellow Warbler with a stubby little tails fits that description perfectly.
I kept my focus on this male American Goldfinch and when he lifted off I was able to take a photo with his wings raised just as he started to take flight.
I missed out on photographing Showy Milkweed in bloom in the lower elevations of northern Utah but not at the higher elevations of the Wasatch Mountains.
Yesterday I was delighted when I spotted a Warbling Vireo at the top of some nearby willows and that the vireo stayed long enough for me to take a few photos of it.
I was glad to have so many immature Song Sparrows in my viewfinder that were out in the open on the ground and perched up higher.
I was able to get back out into the field yesterday and I had a marvelous time photographing young Spotted Sandpiper chicks and learning more about their behaviors near a creek in the Wasatch Mountains.
Just a short post today with a photo of a male Broad-tailed Hummingbird getting nectar from an unknown wildflower, or at least it is unknown to me.
I'm confident in my North American bird ID abilities but when it comes to Fritillary butterfly species ID in the Wasatch Mountains I feel stymied a lot of the time.
The light wasn't great when I took this image of a juvenile Song Sparrow perched in a thicket last year but these little ones don't seem to spend a lot of time in the open right after they fledge so I was happy with the photo.
I don't have many photos of siskins in my portfolio and every year I hope to add more so when I was able to photograph a Pine Siskin foraging in a willow 5 days ago I was thrilled.
This was the first immature Green-tailed Towhee I have seen this breeding season and I am hoping that it won't be the last one I photograph this year.
I was excited and enchanted by seeing and photographing at least two Spotted Sandpiper chicks yesterday morning near a creek up in the Wasatch Mountains.
Last year I was able to take hundreds of photos of this male American Goldfinch in breeding plumage while he fed on the seeds of a Musk Thistle.
I could wish that the Orange-crowned Warbler didn't look as messy as it does but I am just so glad to have taken even one image where the orange crown is visible that I would toot a horn if I owned one.
As I photographed a pair of Uinta Ground Squirrels in a sagebrush high up in the Wasatch Mountains yesterday I realized that before long these squirrels will be gone from my view.
This Black-capped Chickadee's plumage isn't in prime condition but I feel like my work as a bird photographer includes taking images of them looking great and not so great because it is all part of the cycle of their lives.
I was extremely pleased to find and photograph my first Gray Catbird juvenile of this breeding season yesterday morning high in the Wasatch Mountains as it came into view on a hawthorn tree.
Back in early June I had the opportunity to photograph a male Belted Kingfisher up close high in the Wasatch Mountains but due to circumstances beyond my control I missed those shots.
I've been looking for Orange-crowned Warblers in the Wasatch Mountains to get better images of them this year and so far my best chance has been with this messy looking one I saw and photographed yesterday.
This MacGillivray's Warbler was foraging at the base of a serviceberry when I photographed it facing me and until I took photos of it I hadn't realized how big their eyes are for a warbler.
Just a few days ago I was listening to Song Sparrows singing on the East Coast and yesterday I was listening to them singing in a canyon in the Wasatch Mountains of northern Utah.
It seems that I have spent a lot of time photographing Willow Flycatchers this year and I am happy that I have because I enjoying taking photos of these flycatchers.
I don't get to see Least Chipmunks year round here in northern Utah so I try to photograph them each time see them because they are such charming subjects. This one sure charmed me.
Yellow Warblers are small birds that look like feathered rays of sunshine that have come to earth and I am always delighted to photograph them
Uinta Ground Squirrels spend most of their lives underground and because they do they need to make the most of their time above ground matter and they certainly do.
What I didn't know at the time that I photographed the flowering Dame's Rocket was that it is a prohibited plant in Utah.
It was interesting to watch and photograph this little Broad-tailed Hummingbird defend his favorite perch from the intruders I barely saw but could hear as they flew in and he flew out to chase them away.
After finding a new Broad-tailed Hummingbird favorite perch this year where I can pull over and not have to worry about traffic so much I have had a blast photographing the little male resting, preening, landing, lifting off and keeping an eye on his territory.
Just seconds after I took this photo I think the Song Sparrow decided it had had enough of the wind because it took off and left the bouncy serviceberry perch.
The first warbler species I ever photographed in Utah actually was a MacGillivray's Warbler at Silver Lake in Brighton on July 25, 2008 which was taken on my first bird photography trip to Utah prior to moving here from Florida.