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First Winter Hooded Merganser

By |December 19th, 2022|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Hooded Mergansers, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Two days ago at one of my local ponds I was able to take only a few photos of a Hooded Merganser before it disappeared from my line of sight.

Female House Finch Eating Crabapples

By |December 18th, 2022|Categories: Birds, House Finches, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I was able to get outside in the bitter cold for about an hour yesterday and found myself focused on a female House Finch eating crabapples close to home.

Immature Male Common Goldeneye And Catfish

By |December 16th, 2022|Categories: Birds, Common Goldeneyes, San Juan County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

On this day two years ago, I photographed this immature male Common Goldeneye with a catfish at the pond in my neighborhood. It was a chilly, wintry afternoon.

Birds On Ice In Northern Utah

By |December 14th, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Canada Geese, Common Ravens, Ring-billed Gulls, Salt Lake County, Trumpeter Swans, Tundra Swans, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

This morning I'm sharing photos of five bird species that I find on ice during the coldest months of the year in marsh and urban locations.

Queenfisher – 2023 ABA Bird of the Year

By |December 11th, 2022|Categories: Belted Kingfishers, Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Salt Lake County, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The 2023 ABA Bird of the Year was revealed yesterday evening. The bird of the year is the Queenfisher, also known as the female Belted Kingfisher.

Bright Winter Light VS A Winter Whiteout

By |December 3rd, 2022|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Davis County, Tundra Swans, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Earlier this year I photographed a Tundra Swan in bright winter light that today I am comparing to another swan image I took in winter whiteout conditions.

Orange-crowned Warbler In Fall Migration

By |November 27th, 2022|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Orange-crowned Warblers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The last time I wrote about this species I said that I was feeling Orange-crowned Warbler deprived. Just a few days later I had this beauty in my viewfinder.

Male Northern Harrier Photo

By |November 22nd, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I'd like this photo of a male Northern Harrier more if there weren't camping trailers from a duck hunting club near the auto loop of Bear River MBR behind him.

West Desert Dark Morph Ferruginous Hawk

By |November 21st, 2022|Categories: Birds, Ferruginous Hawks, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Nearly three years have passed since I found, pointed out, and photographed this stunning dark morph Ferruginous Hawk in the West Desert of Utah.

Funny Least Chipmunk Butt Shot

By |November 10th, 2022|Categories: Least Chipmunks, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Wildlife|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

After nearly 16 hours of outages on my site in the past 24 hours I am not feeling very humorous but still thought I'd share this funny Least Chipmunk butt shot.

Winter California And American Herring Gull Comparison In Utah

By |November 8th, 2022|Categories: American Herring Gulls, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, California Gulls, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Since I frequently get asked which is which I thought this would be a good time to do a winter California and American Herring Gull comparison and ID feature post.

White-throated Sparrow And A Bittersweet Memory

By |November 4th, 2022|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah, White-throated Sparrows|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Today marks the one year anniversary of me finding my first, and so far only, White-throated Sparrow perched in a greasewood in Utah at Farmington Bay WMA.

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