breeding plumage

Male Western Tanager Close Up Image

By |May 29th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Western Tanagers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Two days ago I had the opportunity to photograph a male Western Tanager up close in the foothills of some of the sky island mountains in the West Desert of Utah.

Spring Male American Goldfinch

By |May 26th, 2021|Categories: American Goldfinches, Birds, Morgan County, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday I photographed this male American Goldfinch and thought about how he is as bright as the dandelions that are blooming now in the mountains.

Resting Ruddy Turnstone

By |May 17th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Ruddy Turnstones|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Twelve years ago today I was on the beach at Fort De Soto County Park focused on photographing a male Ruddy Turnstone resting on the warm sand with the Gulf behind him.

My First Of Season Spotted Sandpiper Photos

By |May 8th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Spotted Sandpipers, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I took my first of season Spotted Sandpiper photos yesterday morning high in the Wasatch Mountains as I sat in my Jeep next to a creek.

An Assortment Of Spring Birds From Bear River MBR

By |April 23rd, 2021|Categories: American White Pelicans, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Clark's Grebes, Double-crested Cormorants, Eared Grebes, Forster's Terns, Gadwalls, Great Blue Herons, Long-billed Curlews, Red-winged Blackbirds, Sandhill Cranes, Utah, Western Grebes, White-faced Ibises, Yellow-headed Blackbirds|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Today I wanted to share an assortment of spring birds all photographed at Bear River MBR yesterday on a bright and beautiful morning.

Winter Common Mergansers

By |January 16th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Common Mergansers, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday and the day before I was able to observe and photograph winter Common Mergansers at my local pond on both sunny afternoons.

Photographing Winter Birds

By |January 15th, 2021|Categories: American Coots, Bald Eagles, Birds, Black-crowned Night Herons, Canvasbacks, Common Goldeneyes, Common Mergansers, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Great-tailed Grackles, Mallards, Pied-billed Grebes, Redheads, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I spent a couple of hours yesterday photographing winter birds at Farmington Bay WMA and closer to home in the morning and afternoon.

Drake Common Goldeneye With Pigment Issues On His Bill

By |December 13th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Common Goldeneyes, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

When I got back home and uploaded the images I took of the drake Common Goldeneye I could see that his bill had pigment issues and that it wasn't a white feather stuck on his bill.

Landing Drake Common Goldeneye

By |November 29th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Common Goldeneyes, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I'm anxious to start photographing the ducks I see close to home during the winter here in the Salt Lake Valley and from what I understand a few Common Goldeneyes have shown up.

Drake Green-winged Teal At Bear River MBR

By |November 18th, 2020|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Green-winged Teals, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday morning I was able to take close up photos of a drake Green-winged Teal paddling away from me at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.

Black-headed Grosbeak in the Wasatch Mountains

By |July 5th, 2020|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Black-headed Grosbeaks, Centennial Valley, Montana, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Hearing Thousands Of American Goldfinches Flying Overhead

By |May 28th, 2020|Categories: American Goldfinches, Birds, Morgan County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I have never heard so many American Goldfinches flying overhead for such a long period of time and I was in awe. I still am.

One Spring Morning When Yellow-rumped Warblers Dripped From Trees

By |May 23rd, 2020|Categories: Birds, Morgan County, Summit County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Yellow-rumped Warblers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Almost one year ago I spent my morning photographing so many Yellow-rumped Warblers that they seemed to almost drip from the trees.

What An Odd Mother’s Day But It Is Mother’s Day Nonetheless

By |May 10th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Black-bellied Plovers, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

This morning I opted to go back in time to a "normal" Mother's Day by pulling a Black-bellied Plover photo from my archives that was taken on Mother's Day in 2009.

Nesting Mountain Bluebirds And Other Woodland Birds

By |April 30th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Chipping Sparrows, House Wrens, Mountain Bluebirds, Yellow-rumped Warblers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday I had a blast photographing a pair of Mountain Bluebirds at a natural nesting cavity at the edge of a forest along with some other woodland birds. 

Adult Eared Grebe At Bear River MBR Plus A 4.2 Aftershock

By |April 15th, 2020|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Eared Grebes, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The light yesterday morning was a little bit funky because of high, thin clouds overhead but I took a few photos of the birds that I was able to get close to including one of the Eared Grebes.

My Rare Mountain Plover Sighting Happened Almost Seven Years Ago

By |April 7th, 2020|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Bird ID, Birds, Davis County, Mountain Plovers, Rarities, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

My rare Mountain Plover sighting happened almost seven years ago on Antelope Island State Park when I spotted, identified and photographed of the plovers during spring migration.

Adult White-faced Ibis In Breeding Plumage

By |March 27th, 2020|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Utah, White-faced Ibises|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

When White-faced Ibis are in breeding plumage it is easy to see how they got their common name, in nonbreeding plumage, not so much.

Fun Photographing Reddish Egrets In Florida

By |January 25th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Reddish Egrets|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I had so much fun photographing Reddish Egrets when I lived in Florida and could see them nearly every time I went to Fort De Soto County Park's north beach.

Tricolored Herons In Florida Habitats

By |January 19th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Hillsborough County, Pinellas County, Roosevelt Wetlands, Tricolored Herons, Weedon Island Preserve|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

When I lived in Florida Tricolored Herons were among my favorite wading birds to photograph and I found them in many different types of habitats.

Drake Hooded Merganser Photos

By |December 10th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Hooded Mergansers, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday started off dreary but later in the afternoon I was able to get out in the field and I had a blast taking photos of a spiffy drake Hooded Merganser for a little while.

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