Yesterday my post focused on female Mountain Bluebirds and today I am presenting males in honor of Father's Day. I was blessed to have two fathers, one who died when I was very young and later in my second Dad came into my life.
This male Tree Swallow was perched on a fence post in western Montana last week when I photographed him while the morning light lit him up beautifully.
I was thrilled to spot this male Black-headed Grosbeak foraging in this flowering shrub while I was in Montana last week.
I photographed this mated pair of Red-tailed Hawks last week in western Montana as they soaked up the warming rays of the morning sun.
Hovering Kestrel shots aren't easy to capture without baiting or using decoys, part of that is because I can't tell when a kestrel might get it in its mind to hover for prey, the other part is being in the right place at the right time.
I hope the Pronghorn we do have continue to flourish because they are majestic creatures and the western landscape wouldn't be the same without them.
Last year at about this same time these Ospreys were busy building their nest while this year they were already sitting on eggs at Flaming Gorge.
I've only had one opportunity to photograph Cassin's Finches so far and that was in the small town of Lakeview where the headquarters of Red Rock Lakes national Wildlife Refuge is located.
Last week; while fighting off a bloodsucking cloud of no-see-ums, I was able to photograph this male Long-billed Curlew as it flew past me.
I've said before that owls fascinate me; probably more times than I can count, and Short-eared Owls are always a delight.
I wanted to share a sampler of bird images that I have taken over the past week in Davis and Box Elder Counties.
Northern Harriers fascinate me partly because they are sexually dimorphic; meaning that the males and females look different even though they are the same species, and also because of their owl-like facial discs.
Great Horned Owls and Horned Larks are species of birds that have tufts that I photograph regularly here in Utah.
Male American Kestrel in low light
The only native true lark that lives and breeds in North America is the Horned Lark.
Male Boat-tailed Grackles have velvety black feathers that glow in the right light with iridescence purples, blues, teals and greens.
I photographed this male Long-billed Curlew last week as he was starting to lift off.
When we stopped at one of the parking lots that overlooked Bridger Bay I heard a call that made me jump in my seat and before I could say "Long-billed Curlew!!" I could see the bird flying towards the grasses.
This male Tree Swallow in flight image was taken two years ago at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Montana and for some reason I had not processed it until now.
I photographed this male Horned Lark just two days ago and I'm tickled that I can see new growth of grasses in the frame.
I came across this American Kestrel image yesterday while moving images to a new external hard drive and realized I hadn't edited any of the photos in the series yet, so I did.
Fairly soon I'll be seeing many more of the male Red-winged Blackbirds perching at the top of rushes and cattails singing springtime serenades for the females and flashing their brilliantly colored epaulets
I spotted a flock of Horned Larks in Box Elder County, some were foraging on the road and a few were perched on mounds of snow that someone had plowed. It seemed like the ones on the snow were just enjoying the sunshine.
It is cloudy and snowing hard outside this morning so I dug into my files and edited these nesting Osprey images I took last year at Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area in Utah.
Yesterday I spotted a Coyote on Antelope Island, it was down a slope near a herd of Pronghorn and not in the best of light. I noticed almost right away that the Coyote was limping rather badly.
This Western Tanager was photographed last summer at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in the Centennial Valley of Beaverhead County, Montana.
Awhile back someone told me that Mergansers don't change their plumage seasonally, which is of course incorrect as all three species of mergansers that live in North America do.
Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge has five species of swallows, they are Tree, Northern Rough-winged, Violet-green, Cliff and Barn Swallows.
Ring-necked Pheasant males are far more colorful than the females and in snow they seem even more vividly colored.
The answer to the ID quiz is a female Green-winged Teal! Out of 49 people taking the quiz there were 6 votes for Mallard, 8 votes for Blue-winged Teal, 9 votes for Gadwall and 26 votes for Green-winged Teal.