Happy 88th Birthday Mom!
Today is my mother's 88th birthday and although we aren't together to celebrate it and we are physically 2,211 miles apart I know that this photo will bring us close together once again because she loved this view.
Today is my mother's 88th birthday and although we aren't together to celebrate it and we are physically 2,211 miles apart I know that this photo will bring us close together once again because she loved this view.
I spent yesterday morning high up in the Wasatch Mountains where part of the time I focused on photographing the Belted Kingfishers that I found in two counties.
Two years ago I was able to find and photograph quiet a few young Gray Catbirds high in the Wasatch Mountain canyons including this one who seemed to be keeping an eye on me.
I don't often see Spotted Sandpipers perched in trees so I was enchanted when this one landed on the bare branches that hung over a slow flowing creek.
On that bright winter afternoon one of my best avian subjects was this Great Blue Heron standing in water with a bank of fresh, white snow behind it.
If I hadn't been looking for birds I wouldn't have spotted this coyote searching for prey yesterday near a creek in a canyon which made it my best subject of the day.
I was excited to have been able to take a decent image of an American Mink when I found this one in the Wasatch Mountains yesterday morning.
When this hatch year Yellow Warbler popped out into an open area of a willow thicket in a beam of sunlight I was happy to take its photo.
As a bird photographer I'm feeling a sense of urgency now that I didn't feel a few weeks ago because as I watch the migrants in the Wasatch Mountains getting ready for their long journeys I know that my time for photographing them this year is quickly running out.
I was glad to have so many immature Song Sparrows in my viewfinder that were out in the open on the ground and perched up higher.
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 was excited and enchanted by seeing and photographing at least two Spotted Sandpiper chicks yesterday morning near a creek up in the Wasatch Mountains.
Back in early June I had the opportunity to photograph a male Belted Kingfisher up close high in the Wasatch Mountains but due to circumstances beyond my control I missed those shots.
I only had this Spotted Sandpiper in my view for about 24 seconds and I'd say more than half of that was spent flying around so I am glad that I was able to take this photo at all.
My persistence and knowledge of a Willow Flycatcher's territory paid off again yesterday morning when the flycatcher flew in close and landed on a willow branch not far from where I sat in my Jeep.
I took a couple hundred images of the Yellow-rumped Warblers as they flitted around in search of prey next to the creek and after reviewing my images I only found a few that I felt were worth keeping.
On my second trip up into the mountains last week I was focused on a Barn Swallow perched in bushes near a creek when I caught a bit of movement in the bushes below the swallow and spotted this Yellow Warbler.
As I sat creekside in my Jeep an adult Song Sparrow flew in, landed and began hopping around looking for food for breakfast in the vegetation floating on the water at the edge of the creek.
Of the photos that I took that morning I liked this one Rough-winged Swallow the most because I could see its entire body while the other swallow had the out of focus perch in front of the body of the bird.
Three days ago there was some Mountain Goldenbanner blooming next to a creek in the canyons of the Wasatch Mountains and I simply had to take some photos of these bright yellow wildflowers.
I was delighted to be able to photograph the female Yellow Warbler as she fed her young and to watch the fledgling as it fluttered its wings and gulped down the food the female brought it.
Spring is the season of birth and rebirth, the leaves of trees unfurl, the dormant grasses and forbs poke up through the ground, flower buds burst open and flowers in all the colors of the rainbow appear on the landscapes, birds nest and incubate and wild animals give birth to their young.
I was delighted to be able to photograph a Gray Catbird in a willow thicket yesterday up in a canyon in the Wasatch Mountains.
I have my ears and my eyes to thank for finding the Yellow Warblers and their young foraging near a creek in a canyon.
I liked this image of a Tree Swallow near Modoc Creek because of the eye contact, head turn, colors and the pattern of the conifer needles in the background.
Two years ago today I photographed this Wilson's Snipe resting in snow at Farmington Bay WMA, it was bitter cold and snow covered the ground.
These Spotted Sandpiper images are from my last trip to Idaho and were taken near a creek in the Targhee National Forest.
Things were "just ducky" earlier this month in the Centennial Valley of Montana and this Cinnamon Teal seemed to be enjoying the warm late afternoon light.
So I finally have images of the breeding plumage of this small shorebird that show the spots that gave this bird the name Spotted Sandpiper!