During the winter when road conditions get bad enough to make me think about my personal safety driving on the interstate and other roads I enjoy being able to photograph urban birds much closer to home.
Having this male House Finch perched in a frost kissed Greasewood a few days ago with blue sky behind it did make him stand out well.
Yesterday I photographed a muskrat I found eating green filamentous algae at Farmington Bay WMA which I thought was interesting because I had never seen one eating algae before.
There are times when one bird can make my day and yesterday that bird was an immature Red-tailed Hawk that I spotted just before heading home after a trip into the mountains that included fog and other challenges.
Two days ago I was up in the Wasatch Mountains and heard a Cedar Waxwing near some chokecherry trees and once I spotted the waxwing I waited until I could get a clear shot of it with a chokecherry in its beak.
One year ago today I went up into the Wasatch Mountains and for about three minutes I photographed a molting American Goldfinch feasting on Musk Thistle seeds.
I don't get to see Least Chipmunks year round here in northern Utah so I try to photograph them each time see them because they are such charming subjects. This one sure charmed me.
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!
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.
This Redhead isn't "angry" at all but it does look angry to my eyes and this morning I'm feeling about as angry as this duck looks. I'll explain but first I have to give a bit more information about how my mornings start.
At home when I could see the photos I had taken on a much larger screen I nearly choked on my laughter when I saw this image of the coot vigorously shaking its food
Over the past couple of weeks I have been able to photograph male, female and immature Lazuli Buntings as they have been gorging on the fruits of Serviceberry trees to fatten up before their migration.
I'm always happy to photograph the other things I see while I am out photographing birds and that includes cute critters like this Least Chipmunk nibbling on the fruits of the Utah Serviceberry shrub.
I'm going to keep trying to obtain better photos of the Gray Catbirds with the Black Twinberry berries and perhaps before long the catbirds will bring their young to feast on these berries too!
I laughed again when I saw this photo on my camera LCD, the Moose was reaching to grab more willow leaves but was also keeping an eye on me in the mobile blind while his "beard" swung like the clapper of a bell.
I had a blast photographing these baby Uinta Ground Squirrels and sharing them with my Mom. It was a peaceful, relaxing morning filled with birds, squirrels, lovely scenery and great company.
The day I photographed the Green-tailed Towhee singing up in the mountain canyon I also had an opportunity to take a nice series of photos of what appeared to be a mated pair of American Goldfinches.
Yesterday the American Crows hung around with the Bald Eagles, Herring, California and Ring-billed Gulls to feast on those invasive fish which gave me an opportunity to photograph this one standing on a dead carp.
Among my favorite plovers to photograph when I lived in Florida were Semipalmated Plovers, I only saw them during their nonbreeding season where they spent time along the Gulf coast.
It is hard to figure out who is the lucky duck here, the Common Goldeneye for catching the crayfish or me for seeing the duck with the crayfish and photographing it.
Four years ago I photographed a Barn Owl in a winter white out at Farmington Bay WMA and I have to admit that photographing it was tough.
Three afternoons ago I captured images of not just one flying crayfish in the air but two of them because of the Pied-billed Grebes capturing and consuming the freshwater crustaceans.
Many species of birds on Antelope Island State Park are pigging out on wild sunflower seeds at this time of the year including Red-winged Blackbirds.
Yesterday morning I was able to photograph and adult Song Sparrow eating while perched at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge early in the morning.
As I watched the Gray Flycatcher it flew towards me, snatched a damselfly from mid air then landed on a dead branch not too far away and proceeded to eat it while I photographed the bird.
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 while up in the Wasatch Mountains I was delighted to be able to photograph two Least Chipmunks I found in East Canyon of Morgan County, Utah.
Two years ago today I was in Beaverhead County, Montana photographing Cassin's Finches foraging on the seeds of dandelions on a morning that had sunshine and plenty of fog.
I have been very successful spotting Yellow-bellied Marmots and their pups the past few weeks in northern Utah and it has been a delight for me to photograph and observe them.