Lark Sparrow In Golden Morning Light
Two days ago I photographed this adult Lark Sparrow that I found perched on an old fence post in golden light in the West Desert of Tooele County.
Two days ago I photographed this adult Lark Sparrow that I found perched on an old fence post in golden light in the West Desert of Tooele County.
I was photographing a Lark Sparrow when I spotted this Chipping Sparrow with food in its bill fly in and land on a juniper bough.
Last week I made two trips out to the West Desert and today I am sharing a medley of recent birds that I found while I was out there.
I have been able to take more Rock Wren photos in the West Desert the last two times I have wandered out there.
Two days ago I had the opportunity to photograph a male Western Tanager up close in the foothills of some of the sky island mountains in the West Desert of Utah.
Last week before I found the Rock Wren I wrote about I also found a subadult Peregrine Falcon perched on a wooden post in the West Desert.
One of the first birds I heard singing three days ago in the West Desert of Tooele County was a Lark Sparrow perched on top of a sagebrush.
Yesterday when I spotted a Rock Wren singing from the top of a juniper in Utah's West Desert I hoped to take a few decent photos of it before it flew away.
Yesterday morning not long after sunrise I spent some time photographing a light morph, immature Ferruginous Hawk hunting for its breakfast.
The highlight of my morning yesterday was when I spotted an immature light morph Ferruginous Hawk perched on a cedar post in the West Desert.
Over the past month I thought about whether I wanted to share images and tell the story of this Western Meadowlark that lost its life because of a barbed wire death trap and finally decided that the story needed to be told.
The past couple of weeks on some of my journeys to the West Desert of Utah I have been able to have a few long distance views of Ferruginous Hawks and that has me excited.
This male Mountain Bluebird seemed to glow in the early morning light which was in sharp contrast with the shadows on the mountains in the background.
Last week I found a small herd of does and fawns on a gravel road that leads to the foothills and mountain canyons of the Stansbury Mountains that hung around long enough to be photographed.
I don't know how many times I have said "expect the unexpected" since I began photographing birds while talking to fellow photographers.
I was so excited that I was shaking because the creature I had found was a Desert Tarantula which was my first sighting of one in Utah.
Knowing what kind of habitat Ferruginous Hawks prefer during all four seasons here in northern Utah can increase the chances of finding them year round.
There was a stiff breeze blowing and when the light morph Rough-legged Hawk lifted off from the juniper it seemed to me as if he did it in slow motion.
I photograph birds all the time and there are a few that simply take my breath away and totally mesmerize me, this dark morph Ferruginous Hawk is one of those birds.
It has been a long time since I had a dark morph Ferruginous Hawk in my view finder so when I spotted it hovering over a field I knew I had to stop and get photos of it.
When it comes to accipiters I see Sharp-shinned Hawks less frequently than I do Cooper's Hawks or Northern Goshawks so when I have a Sharp-shinned Hawk in my viewfinder I become very excited.
The birds we observe, learn from and photograph care naught for the constrictions of our human calendars instead they listen to ancient, instinctual rhythms inside themselves.
When I took this image the juvenile Loggerhead Shrike was perched on a dead twig when the robber fly flew into the frame, the shrike took off after the fly and caught it in mid air.
I was able to take images of a Box Elder County Yellow-bellied Marmot further south next to the road near the foothills of the Promontory Mountains.
Seeing these uncommon Western Bluebirds in Tooele County in the Stansbury Mountain Range yesterday is part of why I love bird photography so much.
I too have nestled lovingly into this world and climbed its mountains, roamed its forests and sailed its waters.
The amazing birds and animals keep me going back to Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge but the scenery and wildness of the area does too.