Begging Fledgling Gray Catbird High In The Wasatch Mountains
When I saw a Gray Catbird fledgling inch its way up a stick two days ago and then exhibit begging behavior by raising its wings and opening its bill I locked on to it.
When I saw a Gray Catbird fledgling inch its way up a stick two days ago and then exhibit begging behavior by raising its wings and opening its bill I locked on to it.
When I found this Great Blue Heron standing on a rock surrounded by the fast moving waters of a mountain creek I knew I wanted photos of it.
One of the birds I found that summer morning was a Great Egret perched on a stump that the waves of the Gulf had deposited on the shore of the beach.
The bright yellow bird that flew into my field of view was a male American Goldfinch that stood out like a ray of sunshine against the shadows of some tall nearby trees.
I haven't seen any Spotted Sandpiper chicks so far this breeding season but that doesn't mean they haven't hatched yet.
I was happy that I decided to photograph the striking Black-headed Grosbeak instead of the Downy Woodpecker that was at least forty feet in front of me.
The male Belted Kingfisher had been perched and without warning dove into the water, caught a fish, returned to his perch, and ate it all within close proximity to where I sat in my Jeep.
As soon as I stopped my Jeep two Cedar Waxwings popped into view. The waxwings were close so I took portraits of them perched among the honeysuckles.
My best opportunities photographing the adult MacGillivray's Warblers with food for their young yesterday happened when the female popped into view with prey in her bill.
The female Yellow Warbler often flew in, landed out in the open and then dove down to deliver the prey she had gathered to her chick that was hidden in the willows.
Last week while I was up in the Wasatch Mountains photographing birds I had a Least Chipmunk pop into my view while it ate a serviceberry.
I hoped the Sage Thrasher would come closer so that I could photograph it and just about the time the Short-eared Owl lifted off the thrasher popped up on a nearby metal post.
One of the birds I was excited to see and photograph yesterday morning was an adult Eastern Kingbird perched on a pickleweed next to the road.
Last week I was able to photograph Weidemeyer's Admiral butterflies up in the Wasatch Mountains on two consecutive days and the butterflies had me all aflutter.
Three days ago I found an adult Song Sparrow to photograph with its bill full of prey that the sparrow had gathered to feed its young.
I don't see Yellow Warblers foraging in sage very often so I was thrilled to photograph an adult female as she poked around a clump of sagebrush in the Wasatch Mountains yesterday.
It is always a thrill when birds fly in close to me and that is what happened yesterday with a handsome male Belted Kingfisher.
I'm always happy to photograph "other things with wings" when I am out in the field so last week when I spotted my first of year Monarch butterfly I had to take a few photos of it.
Three days ago one of the birds that the Song Sparrows chased off was an adult female Brown-headed Cowbird that landed on a serviceberry in front of me.
There have been a few times that the Song Sparrows have gotten so close to me that I've felt as if I could almost reach out and touch them.
Female Broad-tailed Hummingbirds do all the nest building, incubating, feeding and rearing of their young while they are here during their breeding season.
I don't know for sure if I will see another Short-eared Owl to photograph this year but I do know I had fun photographing these three.
When I spotted this sharp-looking, adult male Lazuli Bunting less than 30 feet away from where I sat in a mobile blind on the side of the road I almost jumped with joy.
Over time I have come to associate Say's Phoebes with sagebrush because I don't think I have ever seen or photographed one of these phoebes where there wasn't sage nearby here in northern Utah.
Yesterday I was allowed a peek into the leaf-bathing behavior of this MacGillivray's Warbler I photographed high in the Wasatch Mountains.
I don’t think it was a “King of the castle” kind of behavior going on but what do I know, I am not a bird!
Despite the difficulties I have finding and photographing MacGillivray's Warblers I will keep trying to take better images of them.
This morning I'm grateful that I spotted a single Gray Catbird pop up on top of a snowberry bush yesterday morning because if I hadn't none of the following photos would have been possible.
When this adult male Yellow Warbler landed in a willow near me I was more than happy to photograph him surrounded by the willows.
Yesterday I saw this female Black-chinned Hummingbird land on a willow branch not far from where I sat in a mobile blind and I was delighted to photograph her.