Bright Winter Light VS A Winter Whiteout
Earlier this year I photographed a Tundra Swan in bright winter light that today I am comparing to another swan image I took in winter whiteout conditions.
Earlier this year I photographed a Tundra Swan in bright winter light that today I am comparing to another swan image I took in winter whiteout conditions.
Yes, I go to Bear River MBR to find and photograph birds, but I also go there to unwind and find comfort in the marsh and the magnificent surroundings.
Two days ago while I was high in the Wasatch Mountains this adult male Mountain Bluebird landed close enough for me to take photos of him.
Yesterday morning I spent some time high in the Wasatch Mountains and came home with a few Ruby-crowned Kinglet photos that I liked enough to share.
The photo I liked the most from yesterday was of winter waterfowl on a small pond with mist rising from the water and hoar frost covering the vegetation.
Yesterday morning I photographed birds at my local pond in freezing temps and this American Coot in a morning mist was one of my favorite images that I took.
On my last trip to Farmington Bay WMA ten days ago one of my birdy subjects was an adult Great Blue Heron in a light fog out on the playa in morning light.
This Barn Owl covered in hoar frost was taken during my first full winter living in Utah and it was also the subject of my first blog post here on my site.
I noticed in my Facebook memories that four years ago this morning was when I found my first of season Merlin out on the mudflats at Farmington Bay WMA.
It is a chilly 29°F where I live in northern Utah on New Year's Day 2021 and from my living room window I can see that it is foggy outside.
During the winter there are times I am able to photograph Barn Owls in flight during the day when the snow is deep and the temps are bitter cold.
I'm concerned for our wild American Mink and have begun to wonder of the coronavirus could be passed to the other native mustelids here in Utah.
These Great Blue Heron images also help me to "see" what this species would have looked like as they lived their lives in primordial swamps, estuaries and marshes hundreds of thousands of years ago.
After reviewing the images I took of the gull at home on a larger screen I was happy to see that it was a Herring Gull, gulls we only see in the winter here.
These foggy Great Blue Heron photos are probably the foggiest images in my portfolio and despite that I truly like how they turned out.
I might have taken some wonderful photos of birds in nice light yesterday if I had only listened to my instincts and gone out to look for birds.
I'm really glad I looked at these ducks in the fog and decided to take photos of them even though I was looking towards the sun instead of away from it like I typically do when photographing birds.
Three days ago there was a little bit of fog at Farmington Bay WMA while the sun was coming up over the Wasatch Mountains which set up the conditions I needed to take this Northern Shoveler photo.
I didn't see or photograph as many Rough-legged Hawks last winter as I have in previous years but I did have a close up, extraordinary experience with one who was expelling a pellet on a snowy, foggy day at Bear River MBR.
There are times when one bird can make my day and yesterday that bird was an immature Red-tailed Hawk that I spotted just before heading home after a trip into the mountains that included fog and other challenges.
So... I did get out into the field yesterday but heavy fog got in the way of being able to see birds and the great scenery I know I could see at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
Some of the Tundra Swan photos I took that day in near white out conditions were flat and unappealing to my eyes but some of them I really liked because of the white bird on white snow.
These two photos of Canada Geese were taken in very different lighting conditions and while both tested my skills as a bird photographer one of them required more thought from me and challenged my skills more too.
The first bird I photographed that day was a Yellow-crowned Night Heron wandering in the sea fog near the dunes and shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico.
Four years ago I photographed a Barn Owl in a winter white out at Farmington Bay WMA and I have to admit that photographing it was tough.
By having the Barn Owls smaller in the frame in my photos I can share more visual information about where these beautiful owls live, hunt and thrive.
It wasn't "partly sunny" as predicted but I enjoyed myself while photographing the Turkey Vulture and Red-tailed Hawks on a foggy morning even though it tested my skills and techniques.
Many of the birds here in the Salt Lake Valley find a place to roost in the evening and overnight frost begins to accumulate on their feathers like it did on this Rough-legged Hawk on a parking sign.
I was able to photograph a Long-tailed Weasel in its white winter coat two years ago at Farmington Bay WMA and although I liked the images they really weren't what I truly desire.
I am so glad the American Bison were saved from extinction and that I see the Antelope Island State Park herd as often as I do.