Drake Mallards in Breeding and Eclipse Plumage
Yesterday at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I was able to photograph a Mallard drake as it lifted off from the water on the south side of the auto tour loop.
Yesterday at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I was able to photograph a Mallard drake as it lifted off from the water on the south side of the auto tour loop.
These Spotted Sandpiper images are from my last trip to Idaho and were taken near a creek in the Targhee National Forest.
Mornings this time of the year at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge are cool, delightful and early on the subjects can appear to glow from the soft light like this Snowy Egret.
On my recent trip to Idaho and Montana I didn't have many opportunities with Wilson's Phalaropes except for one at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge's Lower Lake.
All this California Gull would need to get some people excited about it is talons instead of webbed feet and more of a hook to its bill and people would go absolutely bat-sh*t crazy over them.
The first bird I photographed on my recent trip to Idaho and Montana was a White-faced Ibis in full breeding plumage.
The California Gulls and the Marbled Godwit came in close and I decided to do some portrait images of the gull.
When I thought about our loony weather it reminded me of loons, specifically Common Loons because there have been many reports of them here this past week.
One May morning in 2009 I was able to photograph both the dark and white morph Reddish Egret in breeding plumage just minutes and yards apart at Fort De Soto's north beach.
It was chilly but bright yesterday morning and there were bluebird skies overhead and Antelope Island State Park beckoned and I of course heeded that call.
The caruncle or horn is a growth on the bill of American White Pelicans that occurs yearly during the breeding season.
These two bathing Royal Tern images remind me of the warm April morning when I spent time photographing different species splashing around in the Gulf of Mexico.
I worked up two older Brown Pelican images to share this morning taken at Fort De Soto in 2009 and 2008.
As a bird photographer I feel it is very important to me that my images show my subjects and the settings they are in as accurately as possible.
I have written before on how Red Knots are a species on the edge because of plummeting populations declines and today they still need our help.
Dunlins are small shorebirds that are found in North America which exhibit remarkable differences between their breeding and nonbreeding plumages.
Soon Caspian Terns will be back in Utah flying over rivers, ponds, lakes and other freshwater impoundments searching for prey.
Over the past week I have seen California Gulls in breeding plumage flying to Egg Island in the Great Salt Lake with nesting material in their bills while on the north end of Antelope Island State Park.
Seven days shy of a year ago I found two rare Mountain Plovers in the White Rock Bay area of Antelope Island State Park and lately I have been hoping to see them again.
Photographing this California Gull on the wing was a highlight of my morning the day I took this photo. I love to photograph gulls.
Three days ago I saw my first of the season American Avocets flying over the causeway to Antelope Island State Park and I let out a gleeful "whoop"!
Laughing Gulls are commonly seen at Fort De Soto County Park but novices to birding and bird watching might think they are three different kinds of gulls depending on their age and plumage.
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.
Eight months ago I spotted two Mountain Plovers on Antelope Island State Park and I am still blown away by seeing and photographing those beautiful shorebirds who are uncommon in Utah.
There isn't much of a change between the plumage in breeding and nonbreeding White Ibis, primarily the differences are in the legs, bill and lores.
The horn is a growth on the bill of American White Pelicans that occurs during the breeding season and I am fortunate to live in a location where these big, white pelicans breed.
Great Egrets develop fancy plumes when they are in breeding plumage and seem to be quite famous for that but their lores also change color from yellow to a lime green
Both the white and dark morphs of Reddish Egrets are great fun to watch as they hunt because they dance, twirl, whirl and stumble along like a "drunken sailor".
Recently I posted images of a Tricolored Heron and a Black-bellied Plover where I wrote that I enjoyed images that include habitat, the same could be said about this photo of a Reddish Egret hunting on the shoreline of the Gulf Coast.
Today I wanted to share another example of close up and full body images of another one of my favorite birds; the Reddish Egret.