Female Mountain Bluebird With Prey
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.
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.
Imagine my surprise when through my viewfinder I could see that the female Mountain Bluebird had landed on a Swiss Army knife that was stuck into the bark of one of the trees.
This female MacGillivray’s Warbler popped into view briefly two years ago high in the Wasatch Mountains and even though she never came out into the open I enjoyed how she was surrounded by the white blooms of a Utah Serviceberry.
Two days ago my pulse quickened when I saw and heard my first of the season Yellow Warblers while looking for birds to photograph high up in the Wasatch Mountains.
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.
I got out into the field for a little while yesterday morning and because of the observation skills I have developed over many years I was able to find two Wild Turkey hens roosting in Aspen trees.
My rare Mountain Plover sighting happened almost seven years ago on Antelope Island State Park when I spotted, identified and photographed of the plovers during spring migration.
For one and a half wonderful nesting seasons I was thrilled to photograph a pair of mated Williamson's Sapsuckers excavating a nest and tending to their young.
Someone at sometime had tossed a soda can into the junipers and the Wild Turkey hen walked right in front of it during the few seconds she was out in the open.
If I hadn't have been paying attention yesterday I might have missed out on spotting a flock of turkeys in some junipers and photographing a smoke phase Wild Turkey hen.
These are the life stages of the Swainson's Hawks I see, observe and photograph here in Utah, Idaho and Montana.
The female Red-tailed Hawk blended into the lichen covered cliff face so well that even with my sharp eyesight I didn't see her until the male landed next to her.
I'm hoping to get back up into some mountains soon where I know more Wild Turkeys are because as much as I like the bales of hay in these photos I'd love to get photos of turkeys in more natural settings again.
Yesterday I was able to photograph a Wild Turkey hen in sage. Not culinary sage but the wild sage we have here in northern Utah.
The adult female Northern Harrier was in flight in wonderful, warm morning light and I couldn't resist raising my lens and taking photos of her as she flew past.
For me this female Northern Harrier and the immature harrier in the other photo are a classic examples of what I like to call a hidden treasure type of image.
In about the span of minute all of the Wild Turkeys had flown off of the bales of hay because of that noisy, diesel pickup truck being so close to them.
I keep wondering if I will see this big, gorgeous, rufous Red-tailed Hawk female in my viewfinder again this year.
Yesterday I watched and photographed the Redhead drakes exhibiting Kinked-neck and Head-throw displays but once again they were too far away to get the high quality images I am seeking.
I was delighted when I spotted this female American Kestrel perched high on a crabapple tree next to a road near the Jordan River and pleased that she stuck around for a few photos.
I proudly credit being an Army Brat on discovering a great location to photograph these Red-breasted Nuthatches and other woodland birds.
Last year I saw an abundance of Great Spangled Fritillary butterflies in the Wasatch Mountains, it seemed that I could easily spot them flitting about or nectaring on thistles but this year I noticed that these and the numbers of other species of butterflies are way down in numbers
This immature Northern Flicker was one of the last birds I spotted and photographed three days ago while up in the Wasatch Mountains and I was happy that she stayed long enough for me to take a nice series of images of her.
I'm seeing more MacGillivray's Warblers this season than I have in previous years but I am still challenged by how quickly these warblers move and by how they can seem to disappear so quickly.