I always try to pay attention to what is going on in the background of my photos because by changing distance or angles the same bird, like this Swainson's Hawk, can look very different in my images.
Last week I photographed this adult Burrowing Owl in front of a green field in the bright morning light and loved the contrast between the warm tones of the owl's plumage and the deep greens in the background.
There is nothing special about this photo of a Red-tailed Hawk on a rock perch that I photographed yesterday in northern Utah but I quite like it for its simplicity.
The gray skies are getting old and I'm suffering from cabin fever and wishing for some bright bluebird skies to get out to photograph birds and to be able to relax and soak in nature.
The differences in breeding and nonbreeding plumage of Forster's Terns is enough that some bird watching and bird photography novices might even think that they are two different species of terns.
The "Circling" courtship behavior of Royal Terns was one that I found interesting because as the male circled the female she moved too and kept her sides facing him.
Yesterday morning in northern Utah I saw about a dozen Swainson's Hawks in about 2.25 miles, some were perched, some were in flight and all of them were wonderful to photograph.
I had a great time photographing a roadside Yellow-bellied Marmot yesterday in northern Utah and the marmot was very cooperative. So cooperative that I took way, way too many images of it.
Last week I did spot something at that badger burrow on the grassy hill that I have been watching for so long and it was a mated pair of Burrowing Owls!
The day I photographed this Lark Sparrow with an ant on the boulder right next to it the light wasn't the best for bird photography but when I reviewed the images and saw the ant I knew I had to keep this photo.
Barn Swallows have returned for the nesting season here in northern Utah and if they aren't already building nests they will be constructing them very soon.
I was thrilled and delighted to photograph a very cooperative dark morph Swainson's Hawk up close yesterday morning in northern Utah.
Spring is a time when the Horned Larks here in Utah perch on top of rocks, posts, mounds of dirt, junipers and sagebrush to sing their songs.
My best find of the day was my first of the year Swainson's Hawk about two thirds of the way down the island perched in some trees near a freshwater spring.
I photographed this Burrowing Owl adult at its burrow earlier this week not too long after a huge bank of clouds moved over Antelope Island State Park.
Honeymoon Island State Park in Pinellas County, Florida is a great place to see and photograph nesting Ospreys, not just one or two nests either, there are often quite a few.
I'm keeping my daily post simple today, as simple as a Mourning Dove close up I photographed on Antelope Island last spring taken while it moved through the dew laden grasses.
In this American Bison's tears I saw my own tears and deep concerns for what is happening to our environment now and the potential threats that future generations will have to face if we don't take action today.
What I didn't expect yesterday was that I would be able to photograph the Red-tailed Hawks mating on the lichen-covered outcropping but that is what happened
I saw quite a few Long-billed Curlews yesterday wandering in the spring grasses and this time I was able to get nice images of them. Nicknames for Long-billed Curlews include "sicklebird" and "candlestick bird."
American White Pelicans are returning to their breeding grounds in Utah and I have already seen a few of them myself and though I haven't been able to photograph them yet I know I will soon.
I was pleased to see and photograph my first of the year Turkey Vulture perched on a fence post next to a road yesterday in northern Utah.
The best bird photography opportunity of the day happened when I spotted a Burrowing Owl near its burrow and I took advantage of the nice light to take quite a few images of the owl framed by grasses and blooming Red-stem Filaree.
Little Blue Herons start off their lives with white plumage, then look piebald with blue and white fathers and finally look more "blue" as adults.
On my last two trips up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I have heard Savannah Sparrows singing "sit sit sit sit suh-EEEEE say" from somewhere in the marshes.
Western Meadowlarks are very active right now on the island, searching for insects, scurrying through the grasses and singing their hearts out from their favorite perches.
I took several hundred images of a female Belted Kingfisher looking for and catching prey while it was bright and sunny yesterday afternoon.
The Cooper's Hawk took flight without much warning at all and for a second I lost it while tracking the hawk but regained focus as it flew south past me.
While up in Mercur Canyon I caught a flash of browns and grays on top of a rock and realized I was seeing the Rock Squirrel I photographed on the same slope last month.
I am very fond of Yellow-bellied Marmots so when I spotted one clambering down some rocks into a crevice close to the road I became excited and as soon as I could I started taking photos of it.