first winter

Northern Harrier – My First Raptor of 2024

By |January 7th, 2024|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The first raptor I photographed in 2024 was this young male Northern Harrier that I found near the refuge auto tour loop at Bear River MBR on New Year's Day.

Immature Female Northern Harrier

By |December 12th, 2023|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Environment, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Habitat, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Today I am sharing three photos of an immature female Northern Harrier that I took ten years ago at Farmington Bay WMA.

First Winter Hooded Merganser

By |December 19th, 2022|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Hooded Mergansers, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Two days ago at one of my local ponds I was able to take only a few photos of a Hooded Merganser before it disappeared from my line of sight.

Immature Male Common Goldeneye And Catfish

By |December 16th, 2022|Categories: Birds, Common Goldeneyes, San Juan County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

On this day two years ago, I photographed this immature male Common Goldeneye with a catfish at the pond in my neighborhood. It was a chilly, wintry afternoon.

First Winter Common Merganser On The Bear River

By |January 31st, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Common Mergansers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

On my last two trips up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I've stopped long enough to photograph a first winter Common Merganser on the Bear River.

First Winter Common Goldeneye Drake Images

By |January 24th, 2022|Categories: Birds, Common Goldeneyes, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Two days ago I spent a lot of time focused on a first winter Common Goldeneye drake as he swam, foraged, and ate at an urban pond close to home.

Riverbank Red-tailed Hawk Dining Al Fresco

By |January 9th, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday morning I photographed an immature Red-tailed Hawk dining al fresco on the bank of the Bear River on my way back to I-15 to head home.

Christmas Day Birds 2021

By |December 26th, 2021|Categories: American Coots, Birds, California Gulls, Common Goldeneyes, Great Blue Herons, Great-tailed Grackles, Mallards, Rough-legged Hawks|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I did get out to find and photograph birds on Christmas Day at Farmington Bay WMA and then later in the morning I found more closer to home.

Ferruginous And Rough-legged Hawk Lift Off Photos

By |February 22nd, 2021|Categories: Birds, Ferruginous Hawks, Rough-legged Hawks, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday morning I was able to take Ferruginous and Rough-legged Hawk lift off photos where both of the raptors still had their feet on their perches.

High Key Immature Red-tailed Hawk Photos

By |February 19th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Today I am sharing two high key type images of an immature Red-tailed Hawk I photographed at Farmington Bay WMA.

Winter Common Mergansers

By |January 16th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Common Mergansers, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday and the day before I was able to observe and photograph winter Common Mergansers at my local pond on both sunny afternoons.

Photographing Winter Birds

By |January 15th, 2021|Categories: American Coots, Bald Eagles, Birds, Black-crowned Night Herons, Canvasbacks, Common Goldeneyes, Common Mergansers, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Great-tailed Grackles, Mallards, Pied-billed Grebes, Redheads, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I spent a couple of hours yesterday photographing winter birds at Farmington Bay WMA and closer to home in the morning and afternoon.

First Winter American Herring Gulls

By |January 11th, 2021|Categories: American Herring Gulls, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I recently wrote about my excitement that American Herring Gulls have started showing up in northern Utah. Last week I was able to photograph some of them.

Second Winter Black-crowned Night Heron

By |December 30th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Black-crowned Night Herons, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday morning at Farmington Bay I found and photographed a second winter Black-crowned Night Heron at the edge of the frozen marsh.

Five Bird Photos From Christmas Day 2020

By |December 26th, 2020|Categories: American Kestrels, Bald Eagles, Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Great Blue Herons, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Much to my delight I was able to photograph some birds on Christmas Day at Farmington Bay WMA yesterday morning.

First Winter Ferruginous Hawk In The West Desert

By |December 16th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Ferruginous Hawks, Stansbury Mountains, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Two years and one day ago I only photographed two birds on a trip out into the West Desert and this light morph Ferruginous Hawk made the trip well worth the journey out into the cold.

Females And First Winter Male Hooded Mergansers

By |December 6th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Hooded Mergansers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

First Winter Common Mergansers In Flight

By |December 3rd, 2020|Categories: Birds, Common Mergansers, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Some winters here in the Salt Lake Valley I see quite a lot Common Mergansers while in other years I only see a few. I'm hoping that this winter I will see plenty of these beautiful, sleek diving ducks.

Common Merganser With A First Winter Common Goldeneye Drake

By |January 26th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Common Goldeneyes, Common Mergansers, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I found it interesting to see a first winter drake Common Goldeneye swimming with a first winter Common Merganser and decided to photograph them.

Focusing On Winter Redheads

By |December 11th, 2019|Categories: Birds, Redheads, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Why were the mallards sticking close to this Redhead? That was because she was diving down into the pond and bringing up aquatic vegetation to feed on and the mallards were stealing bits of it from her. 

Two First Winter Ring-billed Gull Portraits Of The Same Gull

By |January 21st, 2019|Categories: Birds, Ring-billed Gulls, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

Both of these portraits of a first winter Ring-billed Gull are of the same bird taken one minute apart just as the light changed from okay to much brighter where the gull had changed its location but only slightly.

Adult And Immature Tundra Swans At Bear River MBR

By |January 10th, 2019|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Tundra Swans, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I am itching to get back out into the field and one of the places I am most excited to get back to is Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in Box Elder County, Utah because of the Tundra Swans that I know are there.

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