Ruby-throated Hummingbird Hovering
This morning I'm sharing a simple hovering Ruby-throated Hummingbird photo. I took the image yesterday because I had a camera in my hand.
This morning I'm sharing a simple hovering Ruby-throated Hummingbird photo. I took the image yesterday because I had a camera in my hand.
Snowberry Clearwing Moth photos are what I am sharing this morning. The first five images were taken yesterday, and the last one was taken in the spring.
I took these female Black-chinned Hummingbird photos as she fed on the nectar of a honeysuckle last week high in the Wasatch Mountains near an alpine creek.
When I spotted this tiny female Black-chinned Hummingbird yesterday high in the Wasatch Mountains I hoped she'd begin to feed on some nearby honeysuckle.
I did get out to find and photograph birds on Christmas Day at Farmington Bay WMA and then later in the morning I found more closer to home.
Today is National Hummingbird Day and I am celebrating by sharing some Rufous Hummingbird photos I took earlier this week on Antelope Island.
Of the hundreds of White-lined Sphinx moth photos I took two days ago I picked three to share today of the moth feeding on Rocky Mountain Bee Plant.
Yesterday I went out to Antelope Island for the first time since April and I took hundreds of Rufous Hummingbird photos plus some of the rising sun.
I took my first Black-chinned Hummingbird of the year photos in the middle of May but it wasn't until the end of the month that I took some that I liked.
Of the hundred or so images I took of the male Broad-tailed Hummingbirds in that small and very windy area I only liked this one photo.
A few days ago I photographed my first of the season Broad-tailed Hummingbird and I was elated that the bird was a female.
I don't see nearly as many harriers over the marshes at Farmington Bay as I used to five to ten years ago but the marshes have changed some since I moved to northern Utah.
Even though I am primarily a bird photographer I can't resist photographing other subjects especially if those subjects have wings so when I saw a White-lined Sphinx moth yesterday I simply had to focus on it for a bit.
I had more fun photographing Broad-tailed Hummingbirds in the Wasatch Mountains yesterday morning, probably more fun than should be legal.
I spent yesterday morning enjoying a Broad-tailed Hummingbird bliss in the Wasatch Mountains by finding their favorite perches and photographing them feeding, resting, and defending their territories.
Would you be able to ID this hawk from just this image or similar view of it in the field if I hadn't already identified it in my title and my photo caption?
A few weeks ago I observed and photographed an immature female Northern Harrier repeatedly harassing a Ring-necked Pheasant hen out on the marshes at Farmington Bay.
In some shrubs next to Glover Pond I saw two sparrows and the one that quickly drew my eye was a lovely first winter Harris's Sparrow, jackpot, a lifer!
I photographed this Ring-billed Gull last November as it hovered over the autumn colored marsh and I really like the resulting photo. The pose, the light, the setting, the contrast in colors all work well for my tastes.
Rocky Mountain Bee Plants are blooming all over the Salt Lake Valley right now and those beautiful, spider-like flowers are attracting hummingbirds, moths, butterflies, bees and a host of insects.
This Forster's Tern was hovering while hunting over a unit of water on the auto tour route of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in northern Utah in clear morning light.
I photographed this California Gull hovering over the Bear River with the snow covered Promontory Mountains in the back ground while it looked for prey in the open water below.
There were at least 50 Ring-billed Gulls at Bear River MBR diving into the open water looking for fish that winter morning which gave me plenty of chances to photograph them.
When I photographed this Forster's Tern hovering over prey there were several others in the area doing the same thing which makes it difficult to decide on which bird to photograph.
Rough-legged Hawks are known for kiting or hovering nearly motionless in the air while turning their head side to side to look for prey on the ground below them.
I photographed this hovering Northern Harrier several years ago at Farmington Bay Water Fowl Management Area as it scanned the ground below for prey.
So even though I didn't come home with many Burrowing Owls images yesterday these Western Kingbird images more than made up for it!
Yesterday was the first day of National Moth Week 2015 and the featured family of moths for this year are from the Sphingidae family which are commonly know as hawk moths, sphinx moths and hornworms.
My Mom loves birds, flowers and nature and she is a big part of why I do too.
I can't help but think of the birds I will see later in the year like this Rufous Hummingbird I photographed last August on Antelope Island State Park.