Immature Red-tailed Hawk Close Up
The thing about this immature Red-tailed Hawk photo is this: I don't like the background color because I see these colors, tones and hues so frequently where I live in northern Utah.
The thing about this immature Red-tailed Hawk photo is this: I don't like the background color because I see these colors, tones and hues so frequently where I live in northern Utah.
I don't often get to have Great-tailed Grackles in my viewfinder let alone have them close enough to take portraits of them so when the opportunity presents itself, I jump at the chance.
As common as Dark-eyed Juncos are I have surprisingly few photos of them in my galleries and that is why I get excited when I can add a new photo of them to my portfolio.
Yesterday morning I was able to take close up images of a male Brewer's Blackbird in the kind of light that showed all of its beautiful iridescent colors with the silky blue water of a pond in the background.
I couldn't have asked for a better birdy subject yesterday morning than this relaxed and cooperative immature Cooper's Hawk and I loved the setting it was in too.
Just a simple post today of the colorful insides of a Ring-billed Gull's bill that I photographed yesterday morning at Farmington Bay WMA as it yawned.
This photo session with an immature Swainson's Hawk reinforced how as a bird photographer I need to not only be keenly aware of changing light it also showed how I may need to quickly change my settings to get the photos I want.
In mid August I was attempting to get close up photos of a Rock Squirrel that was actively feeding on serviceberries in the Wasatch Mountains and two things happened that ruined my chances for better images.
I was delighted to photograph the few immature Black-billed Magpies that were close to me and to observe those who were further away foraging and chasing each other around in a field dotted with wildflowers, grasses and sage.
Uinta Ground Squirrels spend most of their lives underground and because they do they need to make the most of their time above ground matter and they certainly do.
As I watched and photographed the Cedar Waxwings I realized "why" the hawthorn blossoms had appeared to look a bit damaged... the waxwings had been feasting on them!
Looking beyond the viewfinder paid off for me because if I hadn't done just that I would have missed seeing and photographing this Green-tailed Towhee.
When a bird photography trip up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge starts with me spotting not just one but two Snowy Plovers out on the flats I just know the day is off to a great start and that is what happened yesterday morning.
While I know that for some people this Green-tailed Towhee image might be a "little out there" for their tastes and personal preferences I don't photograph birds for them, I photograph birds for me.
Gray Catbirds have returned to northern Utah for their breeding season and I am thrilled to be hearing their songs and calls again.
I don't know if the Ring-necked Pheasants eat the midges but I know that many of the other birds at the refuge do so I like to think of midges as bird food on the wing.
To my surprise when the Vesper Sparrow lifted off it flew onto the top of another sagebrush that was even closer to me which was nearly perfect for taking portraits of the sparrow and I took full advantage of the opportunity.
I didn't get any photos of the Uinta Ground Squirrels while I was up in the canyons last week and I will need to fix that soon because I adore these furry, dark-eyed ground squirrels.
I've shared photos of this gorgeous dark morph Swainson's Hawk before and I've written about how I believed it was the darkest, dark morph I had ever seen and to date that still holds true.
I spent my morning yesterday driving on the very muddy auto tour route at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and the birds that I photographed the most were Killdeer, it seemed like I saw them everywhere.
This singing male Horned Lark was close enough to me that I could take portraits of him while he sang two days ago and I believe the reason he was so close was that his urge to find a mate overcame his natural wariness.
So far this year the only photo I've taken of the nest building magpies that I have liked is this close up of a resting Black-billed Magpie who was taking a break from looking for nesting materials.
At first the Common Raven was near the side of the road but it moved down the rocks and got closer to the lake and where it poked around in the rocks.
This close up of a Western Meadowlark was taken nearly two years ago on Antelope Island State Park while the bird foraged on the ground.
I always feel fortunate when I am able to photograph winter Barn Owls in flight during daylight hours but that means that these gorgeous owls are struggling to stay alive and that is a concern for me.
I'm not sure I have ever been as close to a Pine Siskin as I was to this one before, I'm glad this siskin decided to delight me with its presence even though it was just for a very brief time.
I've never been this close to a Rough-legged Hawk expelling a pellet before and it is likely that I will never be this fortunate again. This Rough-legged Hawk was my best bird for the day and I'm glad I stopped and waited for him to expel the pellet before moving on down the auto tour route.
On February 16th I woke to fresh snow on the ground and I knew I wanted to see if the American Robins were still feeding in the crabapple trees close to home.
It isn't all that often that I am able to photograph a calling Ring-billed Gull close enough that I can get a great view of the inside of its bill so when the opportunity presented itself earlier this week I took advantage of the situation.
Two afternoons ago when I left the local pond to head home I saw at least 75-100 foraging American Robins in some crabapple trees and on the ground in the snow.