Sandwich Tern and a pastel sky
I have tons of images I haven't processed and last week while searching for a Royal Tern to post I came across this Sandwich Tern I had taken in Florida in 2009.
I have tons of images I haven't processed and last week while searching for a Royal Tern to post I came across this Sandwich Tern I had taken in Florida in 2009.
A month ago I was in the Centennial Valley of Montana camping and the hawks I spent the most time photographing were Swainson's Hawks.
There are times when the birds I want to photograph are too far away and then there are times when the birds get too close, this Red-tailed Hawk got too close.
I think all raptors have a ferocious appearance but this Ferruginous Hawk definitely looked ferocious to me yesterday right after it lifted off from its perch high on a pole.
Ring-billed Gulls are fairly common but as with any common bird I believe that they can be uncommonly beautiful.
The reason Utah got uglier is that today Crow hunting killing season begins for the first time in the state so the day is already off on a bad start.
Yesterday the light wasn't great in the morning but I did get out to take some images an Antelope Island and there were plenty of pollinators out and about.
In March of this year I spent several days photographing Sandhill Cranes in southern Utah where the light and the weather could rapidly change.
I worked up two older Brown Pelican images to share this morning taken at Fort De Soto in 2009 and 2008.
I've compiled a medley of images this morning of bees, moths and hummingbirds that I have photographed this past week to share this morning.
This Rufous Hummingbird had a favorite perch that looked out over its favorite patch of Rocky Mountain Bee Plant.
The brief appearance of this Black-chinned Hummingbird delighted me yesterday as she fed on the Rocky Mountain Bee Plant.
This Great Blue Heron landed briefly on a willow that was along the road at Farmington Bay but before I could get my exposure set correctly it took flight.
Last week I photographed this adult Forster's Tern in flight as it foraged for food above Glover Pond near Farmington Bay WMA.
I photographed this particular Red-tailed Hawk on five different days in Utah County and really enjoyed the cold, crisp mornings I had with it.
Yesterday I focused on a few wading birds I saw at Glover Pond near the Great Salt Lake Nature Center and that include Great Blue Herons and White-faced Ibis.
Last week while in Montana and Idaho I was able to photograph this Swainson's Hawk as it lifted off from a grassy slope heading up Monida Hill.
I never know what treasures I will find or if I will be taking wildlife, scenic or bird images but that is part of the fun.
Black Skimmers are beautiful and unmistakable, with their long orange/red black tipped bill, white underparts, blackish upper parts and distinctive barking call.
This dark morph Swainson's Hawk was on a hillside that we came upon while leaving the Centennial Valley to head back to Utah.
If you ever get to Utah be sure to try to spend a morning or even a full day at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge because there is always something great going on there!
The smaller a bird is the harder it is to get flight shots of them and track them with a long lens so I was very happy to get this Western Meadowlark on the wing.
I love the stare of raptors because they always appear so serious, intense and they have a no-nonsense look to their eyes like this Red-tailed Hawk has.
It's Monday and I didn't have any idea what to post this morning so I opted to present this image of two Brown Pelicans flying double-decker style over the Gulf of Mexico.
Three days ago I was caught off guard when this Western Kingbird flew in and hovered up close to me, almost too close actually.
A simple but fishy post today of an Osprey that flew over my head at Fort De Soto County Park taken 5 years ago in Florida.
While in southwestern Montana last week I did see several Bald Eagles and this adult was most obliging as it perched on a conifer in the light of the rising sun.
I photographed this Osprey at Lettuce Lake Regional Park from the observation tower, the Osprey had tried to catch a fish but came up with just the filamentous algae in its talons.
The nicknames for Short-eared Owls are many and include Evening Owl, Mouse-hawk, Marsh Owl, Bog Owl and Flat-faced Owl but I just call them Shorties in the field.
I have seen and heard more Northern Mockingbirds this year on Antelope Island State Park than any previous year since I moved to Utah.