Female American Kestrel With Her Prey
Three days ago I had one minute with a beautiful adult female American Kestrel and her partially eaten prey at Farmington Bay WMA.
Three days ago I had one minute with a beautiful adult female American Kestrel and her partially eaten prey at Farmington Bay WMA.
I was only going to share this image today but as I processed this photo I thought about all the times I have photographed American Kestrels on this same exact post over the years.
All three of the Hooded Mergansers were close to me because there was a shelf of ice that prevented them from swimming out into the middle of the pond.
I saw a few harriers on the wing yesterday at Farmington Bay WMA and I was able to take a few photos of a female Northern Harrier that still had frost on her nape.
Among the duck species I look for during the winter are American Wigeons which are medium sized dabbling ducks.
Yesterday morning the first birds I spotted and photographed was a pair of adult Red-tailed Hawks side by side on a rocky ledge in early morning light.
Yesterday morning I was able to take close up photos of a drake Green-winged Teal paddling away from me at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
Any time I can see and photograph two falcon species in a single day is a great day and yesterday I photographed a Prairie Merlin and several American Kestrels.
It has been too long since I have had a Northern Harrier in my viewfinder although I'm now excited because I know that fall and winter are great seasons for me to find and photograph them.
Seeing and photographing the Bushtits in northern Utah was a gift that I didn't expect yesterday and I am grateful to finally have images of them that I like.
Last week I found a small herd of does and fawns on a gravel road that leads to the foothills and mountain canyons of the Stansbury Mountains that hung around long enough to be photographed.
This adult female Northern Flicker and a male were both foraging for hawthorn berries when I spotted them from across a creek high in the Wasatch Mountains.
On four out of five trips up into the Wasatch Mountains this week I've been able to take images of immature and female Western Tanagers
Several Yellow Warblers flew into the serviceberry and in this photo I can see that this female has been feeding on the ripe berries because her lower mandible has a juicy residue on it.
I was happy that I decided to photograph the striking Black-headed Grosbeak instead of the Downy Woodpecker that was at least forty feet in front of me.
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.
I had a spectacular morning yesterday high up in the Wasatch Mountains and among the highlights of the day was a herd of cow Elk moving down a hillside just before 9 o'clock.
I don't see Yellow Warblers foraging in sage very often so I was thrilled to photograph an adult female as she poked around a clump of sagebrush in the Wasatch Mountains yesterday.
Three days ago one of the birds that the Song Sparrows chased off was an adult female Brown-headed Cowbird that landed on a serviceberry in front of me.
Female Broad-tailed Hummingbirds do all the nest building, incubating, feeding and rearing of their young while they are here during their breeding season.
Yesterday I was allowed a peek into the leaf-bathing behavior of this MacGillivray's Warbler I photographed high in the Wasatch Mountains.
Yesterday I saw this female Black-chinned Hummingbird land on a willow branch not far from where I sat in a mobile blind and I was delighted to photograph her.
As I went through the images I took four years ago this photo of a female Mountain Bluebird perched on an old fence post with prey for her young in her bill stood out to me.
I have never heard so many American Goldfinches flying overhead for such a long period of time and I was in awe. I still am.
I will say that my favorite and most memorable times photographing Long-billed Curlews happened while I was still living in Florida well away from their breeding grounds.
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.
Almost one year ago I spent my morning photographing so many Yellow-rumped Warblers that they seemed to almost drip from the trees.
Eight days ago I photographed my first male Yellow Warbler of the year and two days ago I had some luck with my first females of the season.
A few days ago I photographed my first of the season Broad-tailed Hummingbird and I was elated that the bird was a female.