My First American Pipit Sighting At Sequoyah NWR
Last week I had my first American Pipit sighting at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge. There were quite a few pipits in plowed fields on both sides of the road.
Last week I had my first American Pipit sighting at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge. There were quite a few pipits in plowed fields on both sides of the road.
Yesterday morning, I spent time photographing a male Horned Lark perched on a barbed wire fence in the West Desert, with Stansbury Island in the background.
I have spent time daydreaming about the birds of spring and summer recently because I have a touch of the midwinter blues. It has been a very gray winter.
While I was out exploring in the West Desert three days ago I spotted this young Western Kingbird perched on a barbed wire fence close to the road.
Last week while I was high in the Wasatch Mountains I was able to take female and male Barn Swallow photos as they perched on a fence next to a creek.
Yesterday morning I was able to spend time taking Willow Flycatcher photos high in the mountains with clear skies overhead as I watched the flycatchers hunting for prey.
Last week I made two trips out to the West Desert and today I am sharing a medley of recent birds that I found while I was out there.
One of the first birds I heard singing three days ago in the West Desert of Tooele County was a Lark Sparrow perched on top of a sagebrush.
I thought this male Mountain Bluebird photographed on the Aquarius Plateau in Wayne County, Utah positively glowed in the early morning light.
The calls of a Say's Phoebe are among the sounds I listen for in March and they are the first members of the tyrant flycatcher family I see each year in northern Utah.
I took a series of Western Meadowlark photos three mornings ago at Farmington Bay WMA while the sun was shining.
I have a backlog of raptor images I took earlier this week but I wanted to share one of a species that some people hate or many bird photographers prefer to ignore, the European Starling.
I am always looking for Short-eared Owls in northern Utah because they are year round residents here but they are nomadic which means I don't always see them.
Over the past month I thought about whether I wanted to share images and tell the story of this Western Meadowlark that lost its life because of a barbed wire death trap and finally decided that the story needed to be told.
I look at this seasonal change as a personal challenge to grow, to adapt and to meet my bird photography goals. I'm looking forward to the challenges and changes ahead.
I only had two minutes with these immature Eastern Kingbirds and I felt I had to make every second I had with them in my viewfinder count. I succeeded.
Worldwide doves symbolize peace and I felt that I could use a little of that feeling this morning so I decided to share some Mourning Dove images I took two days ago in northern Utah.
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.
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.
Mourning Doves aren't flashy but I think they are handsome birds and that their calls are hauntingly beautiful.
I spent a few moments watching and photographing a Least Chipmunk yesterday in the Wasatch Mountains and tried to savor every second I had with it.
It is always a thrill for me to photograph Say's Phoebes so when I spotted a family group of them yesterday morning in northern Utah I was delighted.
I wonder if GEICO knows that they can drive a birder/bird photographer bonkers as easy as they did me over the winter.
The birds we observe, learn from and photograph care naught for the constrictions of our human calendars instead they listen to ancient, instinctual rhythms inside themselves.
Personally I am fascinated by European Starling murmurations, their interesting, beautiful plumage and how they can mimic the calls and songs of other birds.
Last week while I was photographing some Lark Sparrows in northern Utah I took images of this one who had droopy wings because the sparrow was hot. I was hot, I know how the sparrow felt.
Juvenile Western Kingbirds may look sweet like this one does perched on a fence but they can be rather pushy when it comes to demanding food from their parents and they are also quite noisy too while they are begging.
Last week I photographed this adult Western Kingbird perched on rusty barbed wire up in northern Utah with spring greenery behind it and I liked the greens, yellows, grays and whites in the photo.
This morning I am sharing a photo of one of the few young Short-eared Owls I saw this past breeding season here in northern Utah.
While I looked around four days ago I saw this Bank Swallow resting on a fence that hangs over the Red Rock River and could not resist photographing it with the blue water below and behind it.