You might wonder why I have used this title but since the 25th of January changes have been made to Google Image Search that have infuriated webmasters, photographers, artists and many more.
The majority of you voted for the correct answer: Juvenile Herring Gull, 1st winter Laughing Gull and Royal Tern
I came across this image this morning while working up my post Bird images from warmer days and all at 300mm or less and thought it might make a great image for a Bird ID Quiz.
The answer to the ID quiz is a female Green-winged Teal! Out of 49 people taking the quiz there were 6 votes for Mallard, 8 votes for Blue-winged Teal, 9 votes for Gadwall and 26 votes for Green-winged Teal.
I photographed this female duck yesterday morning at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area in northern Utah, she was on ice that was covered by frost flowers and was moving towards a group of males that were in open water.
I am intrigued by how these herons evolved to have long necks that give them the ability to make lightning fast strikes at their prey some distance from their bodies.
The Great Blue Heron I photographed on Christmas Day seems to have focused my attention on wading birds, yesterday it was Reddish Egrets and this morning I present a Tricolored Heron shaking its feather while on tip toes
Yesterday I took a stroll down memory lane, actually I looked for images I have taken either on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day in my files but in a way that is taking a stroll down memory lane.
Evening can have marvelous light too though as shown in the Roseate Spoonbill image above that I photographed in Florida as it hunted for prey in a tidal lagoon.
A simple image of a Red Knot taken in Florida in early morning light. Morning has been; and is, my favorite time of day to photograph birds and other wildlife because the rising sun can add drama and a warm glow to whatever subject I am photographing.
I recall that when I first started photographing the juvenile Red-tailed Hawks in this area back in August that they missed their prey more times than they would capture it and now they seem to have gone the other way, they are catching the prey more than they are missing it.
This Wilson's Plover and its mate were being run ragged chasing after the two chicks they had fledged, this adult stopped in front of me where I had laid down in the sugary white sand and rested a few moments in the dried Sea Purslane stalks.
Song Sparrows are found throughout the U.S. and into Canada, some populations move south during the winter to southern states and northern Mexico. So far 30 subspecies of Song Sparrows have been described.
Since winter has thus far decided to stay in more northern latitudes and higher elevations I decided to post an image of a Long-billed Curlew taken in southern, sub-tropical climes a few years ago.
When I photographed this hunting Tricolored Heron I was laying flat on my belly in the shallows where the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico gently lapped the shore.
I mentioned that there had been low light, falling snow and that the weather conditions before photographing the Loggerhead Shrike and Prairie Falcon weren't great.
While photographing this Snowy Plover in June of 2008 I was able to observe the tiny shorebird snatch an ant from the sugar sand of the north beach of Fort De Soto.
Just a few images from this past week.
Maybe the Tricolored Heron thought Monday might look better upside down? Just a bit of humor for a Monday.
All photographers mess up, some times it is the focus, sometimes it is not having enough shutter speed for active subjects and sometimes a dial gets bumped and when it is not noticed it can affect all the images taken after it has been changed.
I photographed this female Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga striata) by the parking lot at Fort De Soto's north beach a few years ago during migration.
Wow, this is my 500th blog post and it has been great fun to share my images and the stories behind them. I thought I'd share a few images and bits about my thoughts on photography.
A simple image of a beautiful Snowy Plover (Charadrius alexandrius) in a rather goofy looking pose.
Some images strike my funny bone, this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk photograph sure has. This is but one of many captions that came to my mind after viewing it.
This Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) was photographed in Florida as it hunted for prey in a shallow lagoon the edge of a marsh in late afternoon light.
Wood Storks (Mycetaria americana) are the largest wading bird in North America and the only stork that breeds in the U.S.. Wood Storks are considered endangered primarily due to loss of habitat.
After having driven around the north end of the island we headed south thinking there probably wouldn't be much to shoot there... until I spotted this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk perching on some of the darker rocks on the island.
Having one Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) in my viewfinder is a joy and getting two of them in the same frame is even more of a delight.
This Lincoln's Sparrow was photographed last month at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, the spring green leaves in the distant background sure don't compete with the subtle beauty of this sparrow.
I haven't heard a Long-billed Curlew calling for several weeks here in northern Utah and I already miss hearing their calls.