Blue Jay Looking Right At Me
I spent years being Blue Jay deprived, so I am really relishing seeing, hearing, and photographing them now. Having Blue Jays in my viewfinder is truly a joy!
I spent years being Blue Jay deprived, so I am really relishing seeing, hearing, and photographing them now. Having Blue Jays in my viewfinder is truly a joy!
Yesterday morning, I took my lifer Western Ribbon Snake photos at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge. These ribbon snakes are small, I almost missed spotting it!
Photographing this Western Meadowlark on Monday on my way back to I-15 from Bear River MBR was so much fun for me that it probably ought to be illegal.
When I last visited Farmington Bay WMA, I found flights of Variegated Meadowhawk dragonflies on the wing and resting, near and on Goose Egg Island.
On the last day of April, I had a bit of good luck when a female Great-tailed Grackle walked so close to me at a local pond that I could take portraits of her.
I took these two male Brewer's Blackbird portraits yesterday at my local pond. In one the blackbird was displaying, in the other he just looked funny to me.
This morning I am sharing four American Robin photos taken three days ago close to home. Each one of the robins looks like a borb in the snow.
If I were a vole, I'd tremble in fear under the head on stare of this immature Red-tailed Hawk that I photographed last week at Farmington Bay WMA.
My best photos from yesterday's journey into the Wasatch Mountains weren't of birds; instead, they were of an American Badger I found along the side of the road.
A Ruffed Grouse in the shadows of the mountain peaks to the east was my best bird on a cool autumn morning yesterday. When I spotted the grouse, I was elated.
Earlier this week I did some West Desert wandering and while I was there I took some butterfly photos that clumps of blooming rabbitbrush had attracted.
Listening to an adult Say's Phoebe singing in low light on Antelope Island State Park two days ago was a true auditory delight for my ears.
Two days ago I was able to take a nice series of immature Red-tailed Hawk portraits on my most recent trip up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
Last week while going through photos I had taken last year I came across three drake Common Goldeneye close up photos that I wanted to share.
For eleven minutes yesterday morning this Rough-legged Hawk was my main point of focus as I took hundreds of photos of him at Bear River MBR.
Yesterday was kind of an opening day at Farmington Bay and the Snowy Egret show was the highlight of the day.
It is wintertime here in the Salt Lake Valley of northern Utah but given the lack of snow if it weren't for the cold temps you might not know that.
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.
In the right light Brewer's Blackbird males are very colorful because their feathers glow with blue, green, and purple iridescence.
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.
I know that is probably anthropomorphizing but I do allow myself to giggle about birds I think look "angry" and if any of them do this Western Grebe certainly does.
By sharing these photos today my intention is to show that there are times when photographic rules can be broken because the appeal of images or the lack of appeal is all about the individual tastes of the photographer taking the photos and those of the people that view them.
Two days ago at Glover Pond there were several Eight-spotted Skimmer dragonflies that I aimed my lens at and of those I liked this head on shot the most.
I spend a lot of time in the field looking for, observing and photographing owls and obtaining photos of them in flight can often be frustrating when I have the opportunity but very fulfilling when I accomplish my goal.
My friends Amy and Bruce Barker saw a Western Grebe at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge a few days ago and that has gotten me excited, I always miss the grebes during the winter.
This Black-billed Magpie had been perched on the top of a leafless greasewood when it lifted off from it and flew almost directly towards me with its body and wings turned sideways in flight.
Both of the fledgling Short-eared Owls I took photos of that morning appeared very relaxed while I photographed them, they looked around, preened, yawned, stretched and even rested with their eyes closed.
This portrait of a head on Ring-billed Gull in a snow storm was taken 364 days ago at a local pond near home and I liked it because the gull looks a touch grumpy.
It isn't all that often I get to photograph a gull lift off from the water and fly head on directly towards me like this California Gull in winter plumage did a few days ago.
To me it looks like this American White Pelican was doing an impression of a floating, domestic white turkey because when the pelican was facing me nearly head on the length of pelican's long bill seemed to disappear