Male Eastern Bluebird Teaching His Young
Before I left Arkansas, I had the privilege of seeing and photographing this male Eastern Bluebird teaching his young fledglings where to find food.
Before I left Arkansas, I had the privilege of seeing and photographing this male Eastern Bluebird teaching his young fledglings where to find food.
My mom would have been 92 today. I miss her terribly, but she is with me in so many ways. She was also with me when I went to Tishomingo NWR last Saturday.
Steve and I have some sad news today: the mama Eastern Bluebird at Steve's nest box is no more. The last time we saw her at the nest box was Sunday evening.
Today, I am sharing portraits of a male Eastern Bluebird that were taken in my friend Steve Creek's yard. The male bluebird was bringing food in to his chicks.
On my most recent trip to Bear River MBR, I had a huge thrill. I found four baby Pied-billed Grebes still in their striped juvenile plumage in the marsh.
Yesterday, I shared photos of baby American Coots. Today, I am sharing an image of Barn Swallow chicks taken on the same day and location as the young coots.
Yesterday morning, I spent some time taking photos of baby American Coots not far from where I live. It does seem late in the summer for coot chicks.
Yesterday I went up to northern Utah hoping to take photos of some Red-tailed Hawk chicks that I know will soon be leaving their nest and I found them.
Yesterday morning the first birds I spotted in the high country of the Wasatch Mountains were two tiny, butt bouncing Spotted Sandpiper chicks foraging on their own.
My best opportunities photographing the adult MacGillivray's Warblers with food for their young yesterday happened when the female popped into view with prey in her bill.
The female Yellow Warbler often flew in, landed out in the open and then dove down to deliver the prey she had gathered to her chick that was hidden in the willows.
Three days ago I found an adult Song Sparrow to photograph with its bill full of prey that the sparrow had gathered to feed its young.
I know from experience that when I post Mallard photos and write about them here on my site that they don't seem to get as many views as other birds do.
Tree Swallows and other birds should be nesting in the Uinta Mountains by now and I am itching to hop into my Jeep to drive up there to find them.
The adult Red-naped Sapsuckers often clung to the entrance to the nesting cavity for a few seconds before they went inside with the food they had gathered to give to their chicks.
These are the life stages of the Swainson's Hawks I see, observe and photograph here in Utah, Idaho and Montana.
Our current climate crisis could mean Utah might lose our Mountain Bluebirds and it is not just us, it is Idaho, California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming that will also be affected if action isn't taken now.
I was able to get back out into the field yesterday and I had a marvelous time photographing young Spotted Sandpiper chicks and learning more about their behaviors near a creek in the Wasatch Mountains.
This was the first immature Green-tailed Towhee I have seen this breeding season and I am hoping that it won't be the last one I photograph this year.
I spent part of my morning yesterday photographing American Avocet and Black-necked Stilt chicks from the auto tour route at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and it was a blast watching these young shorebirds.
Although photographing the Red-naped Sapsuckers at the nesting cavity has been frustrating at times it has also been very rewarding to observe all the action of the sapsucker family.
Jackpot and frustrations... I'll explain the jackpot first and get to the frustrations later about the Targhee National Forest Red-naped Sapsucker feeding its young.
A few days ago I saw an adult Red-tailed Hawk fly towards its nest with prey for its chicks, the prey was a duckling.
Yesterday I saw all three of the young Red-tailed Hawk chicks together perched on a fallen tree not far from where their natal nest had been before the wind knocked it down.
I know that what this person did was not right and the 8 moderators of that group should have said something but in 15 days they haven't said a word about them being too close to the owl chick.
Maybe next year I'll have better opportunities with these Red-naped Sapsuckers and maybe they will chose to place their new nesting cavity in a location that is easier to photograph.
I saw the Red-tailed Hawk chicks near where the nest had been though and I spent less than two minutes with them and took a few images before leaving them alone.
I haven't seen many chicks yet this spring but yesterday I saw a Mallard hen with her ducklings swimming behind her on a local pond and I had to aim my lens at them.
Why? Because the image is never as important as the well being and safety of my subject, especially when it comes to nests and chicks.
When I came across this Western Grebe family image that I took at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I knew this was an image that made me think of spring.