My Love of Ospreys
Three days ago a first of the year sighting from the UBIRD group got me all excited because it means that the Ospreys have returned to Utah!
Three days ago a first of the year sighting from the UBIRD group got me all excited because it means that the Ospreys have returned to Utah!
Yesterday I was able to see and photograph a pair of Red-tailed Hawks courting and copulating in Tooele County, Utah.
Five days ago while on Antelope Island I photographed this Western Meadowlark as it sang on the stump of a dead Sagebrush.
Photographing this California Gull on the wing was a highlight of my morning the day I took this photo. I love to photograph gulls.
I am back from wandering, camping and photographing in several counties in southern Utah where I was delighted to find some Sandhill Cranes to photograph in Wayne County, Utah.
In Florida it was not uncommon for me to see Brown Pelicans gliding just barely above the surface of the Gulf of Mexico like the juvenile shown in my image.
Laughing Gulls are commonly seen at Fort De Soto County Park but novices to birding and bird watching might think they are three different kinds of gulls depending on their age and plumage.
As Spring Approaches it is a Great Time to be a Bird Photographer in Utah!
This is one of my favorite Reddish Egret images that I have taken at Fort De Soto County Park's north beach.
One of two species of oystercatchers in North America the American Oystercatchers quickly stole my heart after I first saw them because of their colors, long bills, pink legs and their Goth-like black toenails.
Two years ago I could often find Northern Harriers hunting along the causeway to Antelope Island State Park and I photographed a series of images of this female Northern Harrier on February 16th of that year.
I thought posting an adult Burrowing Owl in flight taken during the summer of 2011 on Antelope Island might help to brighten my spirits as I dream of the sun again.
Just a simple Red-tailed Hawk in flight image that I took early last week in Cedar Valley on a bright, clear day.
This Osprey flying in from the Gulf over the north beach of Fort De Soto came as a surprise to us so I had little time to prepare and get my setting right due to how fast the Osprey was flying.
One great bird can make a day or even an entire trip worthwhile and this particular Red-tailed Hawk photographed in Utah County has made two days wonderful so far.
Today I have just a few images of a Red-tailed Hawk I spotted yesterday on a power pole in Utah County near the southern part of the Oquirrh Mountain Range.
I found this image of a Snowy Egret landing on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico that I photographed on a hot May day in Florida five years ago.
But for me the "Snow Birds" I have grown to love here in Utah are Rough-legged Hawks who only visit in the winter and spend the rest of their lives breeding in high subarctic and Arctic regions.
The day I photographed this Ring-billed Gull at Fort De Soto's north beach there were baitfish in the hundreds of thousands running just off shore and pelicans, egrets, terns and gulls were all in a feeding frenzy.
One of the birds I photographed yesterday was this handsome Red-tailed Hawk that I spotted in a tree at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area.
This Red-shouldered Hawk photo was taken in Florida in November of 2008 just after the hawk lifted off from an old snag near a Great Blue Heron I had been photographing.
This morning I wanted to share another "happy accident" of this Marbled Godwit blur in flight taken along the Gulf of Mexico in coastal Florida.
Even though I have been a bird photographer for some time now I still get a thrill when I am eye level with a bird of prey because it feels as if I am more strongly connected to the raptor when they fly in close at eye level.
In January in Florida the Great Blue Herons are already going into breeding plumage and have begun courtship displays and have started building their nests.
In the winter I shoot a lot in fog, smog and low light conditions here in northern Utah but if you follow my blog you probably already know that and have heard me mention it a time or two (or four or a hundred).
Seeing the tail end... of 2013 on this last day of December.
I have had so many opportunities with Golden Eagles and each time something goes wrong.
Last week I did a post on the many nicknames used for Barn Owls and among them was "Ghost Owl" and for some reason when I first looked at this frame I thought the blurred wings did make it look "ghostly".
This Red-tailed Hawk image was taken just after the juvenile lifted off from the nest box and while I love the pose I do wish the light had been a bit better.
I prefer using the common name "Barn Owl" because that is most likely where I first saw one because I started my life out as a farmer's daughter and saw plenty of barns.