I am anxious to get out to the Bear River MBR auto tour loop of the refuge to see what migrants have flown in but right now that isn't possible and there isn't any information on when the road will open again
I expect to see Greater Yellowlegs soon because they are one of the first shorebirds to migrate through Utah on their way to their breeding grounds.
When I came across this Western Grebe family image that I took at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I knew this was an image that made me think of spring.
Common Gallinules and American Coots are both from the Rallidae family and there are some similarities in their appearance, for instance both have a triangular bill with a frontal shield at the top.
I will be listening for the male Marsh Wrens songs at the pond nearby and the marshes at Farmington Bay WMA and Bear River MBR and waiting to see them pop up on top of the cattails, phrags and rushes.
I have mentioned before how one good bird can make a day and yesterday that bird was a male American Kestrel resting and preening at Farmington Bay WMA.
When I saw this Pied-billed Grebe bathing at Farmington Bay I couldn't resist photographing it as it splashed water all over itself.
The American Kestrel was perched on an arching wild rose branch with prey in his bill when I photographed him with snow covered ice and the Wasatch Mountains in the background
While photographing a Great Blue Heron at the first bridge I spotted a dark shape running, slipping and sliding on the snow-covered ice and could see that it was a Raccoon.
As I focused on the Great Blue Heron I could tell it was an immature bird braving its first winter alone in the marshes of Farmington Bay.
Wilson's Snipes are medium-sized, stocky shorebirds that can be found in Utah year round despite the ice, freezing temperatures and heavy snow we have here during our winters.
I woke this morning to several inches of fresh snow on the ground, our first heavy snowfall of the winter in the Salt Lake Valley arrived just in time for Christmas Day.
This Redhead drake photographed at the refuge in his breeding plumage sure stood out well from the water that was reflecting the spring growth of rushes and phragmites.
I am thankful for living as long as I have and for being able to live my life the way I want to and to be able to pursue my passion of bird, wildlife and nature photography.
Last month I captured a series of images of an immature Pied-billed Grebe running across the water with prey in its bill at Farmington Bay WMA.
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.
Although there is speculation that one day Marsh Wrens might be split into Eastern and Western species for this post the word split is only about a pose I see Marsh Wrens in quite often.
Yesterday at Farmington Bay I was pleased to photograph this juvenile Northern Harrier female in flight as she went past me while I sat in a mobile blind.
I was able take one image of the American Kestrel landing with a grasshopper in his bill that was sharp and that I liked.
I was delighted by several tiny Marsh Wrens foraging in some cattails close enough to photograph with autumn colors in the background.
We do see Herring Gulls in northern Utah during the winter and I was able to photograph this one as it circled over the water with the snow-covered Promontory Mountains and sky behind it.
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.
Yesterday I spent time photographing a cooperative yet unexpected Barn Owl at Farmington Bay, unexpected simply because Barn Owl are primarily nocturnal and I saw it during the day.
To the untrained eye American Bitterns and Black-crowned Night Herons can be confused so I thought I'd visually compare the two species with other keys to aid in their identification.
American Coots have interesting behaviors that I like to try to capture, for instance the way they run across the surface of the water during territorial chases.
Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge hosts up to 13,000 Tundra Swans during November through December where they utilize the freshwater wetland habitats on the refuge.
Two days ago when I found this Great Blue Heron resting in the goose nest I knew I had to photograph it because of the autumn colors in the background.
American Pipits are migrating through Utah in large numbers right now and yesterday morning at Farmington Bay they seemed to be everywhere!
Last fall I photographed this beautiful Mule Deer buck at Bear River MBR in rut as he followed a doe around the frost-covered marsh.
If you would like to follow some of the American White Pelicans from Utah on migration a few of them have been fitted with solar-powered GPS transmitter backpacks and the PeliTrack map shows their locations.