I've never seen a Bananaquit in person or in photos that didn't look like it was grumpy, I guess it is their facial features and the downward curve of the bill that makes me think that but I still think they are gorgeous little birds.
This Red-naped Sapsucker was perched on a dead aspen branch near the nesting cavity where I photographed a chick being fed by the adults in mid July.
Yesterday was one of those days where I thought I would come home and not have any images worth keeping until I spotted an immature Red-tailed Hawk perched on a tree near the road.
This Green Heron was photographed from and elevated boardwalk at Sawgrass Lake Park, it had been preening when I walked slowly up to it and when it stretched its wing I took this image.
I spent time photographing primarily small birds yesterday in northern Utah which included Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, American Goldfinches and American Tree Sparrows.
The Yellow-rumped Warblers are seen in high numbers here in northern Utah during spring and fall migration, these birds are migrating south now.
I do not believe that this bird was one of the pair of adult Red-naped Sapsuckers I photographed feeding the chick in the nesting cavity, his bib and breast markings were different from the other adult birds.
I was looking through my archives from last year and came across some images I had taken last June in Morgan County, Utah that I hadn't processed yet and I came across these Cedar Waxwing photos.
I photographed this male Belted Kingfisher last month as it perched on a thin branch at a small pond close to the Jordan River in Salt Lake County, Utah.
One good bird can make the the day when photographing birds in the field, yesterday that bird was a male Green-tailed Towhee I spotted perched on a shrub in a canyon in the Wasatch Mountains.
Last year I was able to spend time photographing this male Tree Swallow in low light in the Targhee National Forest of Idaho and even though the light wasn't the best I still liked the resulting images.
I was trying to photograph flickers, wrens and sapsuckers in the Targhee National Forest of Idaho earlier this month when the American Robin in the photo above appeared and softly called.
Yesterday I was able to photograph juvenile and adult White-crowned Sparrows on the same branch a few minutes apart at a gate at Farmington Bay WMA.
Back in early 2009 I was wandering with some friends in a hammock at Myakka River State Park, Florida when we came across this Red-shouldered Hawk.
The Sage Thrashers on Antelope Island State Park are busy getting ready for migration and the thrashers hatched this year appear to be almost ready to go.
It was clear, smoke-free, cool and wonderful up in Little Emigration Canyon yesterday and seeing several Cedar Waxwings made it even better.
I am heart-broken about losing the Magical Sapsucker Tree but I am glad to have found a few more where the chicks are thriving and are safe so far.
Yesterday may have started off dreary but it sure got lively with a Willamson's Sapsucker, Mountain Chickadee and a pair of Red-breasted Nuthatches at the Magical Sapsucker Tree!
In January of 2009 I went to Myakka River State Park with three of my bird photography friends and the raptor highlight of the day was this Red-shouldered Hawk.
The bright yellow and red of this male Western Tanager caught my eye last May while on a dirt road in the Targhee National Forest in Idaho just south of the Montana state line.
Shorebirds were my bird photography spark birds and they ignited the fire I have within me to go out into the field as often as possible to photograph all wild birds
For a few days now I said I was going to do a post about the House Wrens I photographed at the same nesting tree as the Williamson's Sapsuckers, here it is.
What can I say about this image of an adult Great Horned Owl feeding its young that is strongly back lit by the setting sun on Honeymoon Island State Park in Florida?
In January in Florida the Great Blue Herons are already going into breeding plumage and have begun courtship displays and have started building their nests.
The Yellow Warbler in my image was singing along a creek lined with willows and although the bird is small in the frame I find this image appealing because of the simple lines, the bird's pose and the wonderful eye contact the bird gave me as it briefly looked towards me.
I want to thank Neil Paprocki for sharing information about Al Larson and the upcoming film The Bluebird Man, I have learned a lot from the web site and through my interview with Neil and I am all for learning more about the wonderful natural world around me.
Yesterday I saw a female Black-chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri) checking out the feeder near my front window.
Merlins are winter visitors in the Salt Lake Valley so I have just a few more weeks to attempt photographing them. Merlins are used to be called "pigeon hawks" because their shape and flight patterns are similar to pigeons.