Photographing An Adult Willow Flycatcher On Various Branches
It seems that I have spent a lot of time photographing Willow Flycatchers this year and I am happy that I have because I enjoying taking photos of these flycatchers.
It seems that I have spent a lot of time photographing Willow Flycatchers this year and I am happy that I have because I enjoying taking photos of these flycatchers.
I had more fun photographing Broad-tailed Hummingbirds in the Wasatch Mountains yesterday morning, probably more fun than should be legal.
Three days ago I photographed Yellow-rumped Warblers in the Wasatch Mountains, these warblers are a challenge because they move so quickly but they are always fun to have in my viewfinder.
Two days ago while up in a canyon in the Wasatch Mountains I was able to finally realize a personal goal while photographing Uinta Ground Squirrels.
Later in the morning and on the other side of the auto tour route I was able to take images of a hen Cinnamon Teal surrounded by lush, green spring growth while her mate kept an eye on her from a distance.
It was a pleasure for me to see and photograph a Willet two days ago on Antelope Island State Park and this Willet even started calling which made it even more of a pleasure for me.
I'm happy to see that the rufous female Red-tailed Hawk does have a mate and that they are building a nest to raise their young in, I hope they are successful.
Our Tundra Swans won't be at the refuge much longer and will soon be winging their way to their breeding grounds in the Arctic and I realize that my opportunities to photograph them before they leave are dwindling.
I drove up to Farmington Bay WMA yesterday morning because it looked like there was going to be some nice light and because the forecast for the next week looks rather dismal for bird photography and I'm so very glad I went because I was able to photograph my first of the year American White Pelicans.
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.
I spent some time at one of the local ponds yesterday afternoon and came home with photos that made me smile and for a little while I forgot about the long hours I spent getting skunked on the road earlier in the day.
I'm always glad to see and photograph Wild Turkeys and most of the time I see them more than I can photograph them because they are often too far away but some days it does work out that I can have them in my viewfinder and click the shutter release.
I have often written that bird photography isn't easy and that it can be frustrating, wildlife photography can be much the same and my two recent sightings of Moose in the Wasatch Mountains can prove my point easily.
I like gulls, I like the way they look, I like the way they fly, I like the way they try to steal food from each other and other birds, I like the challenges of photographing them and I really like how scrappy they are.
While photographing some waxwings a flash of movement caught my eye and I spotted an immature American Robin reaching for a berry in a Utah Serviceberry shrub, I couldn't help myself, I had to photograph this young bird too.
One year ago today I experienced one of the two most frustrating days in my entire time of being a bird photographer while photographing Red-naped Sapsuckers in the Targhee National Forest of Idaho.
Yesterday I had fun and frustration while photographing Yellow Warblers feeding their fledglings up in a Wasatch Mountain canyon, fun because it is always great to see them and frustration because of the setting they were in combined with a breeze.
Luck was on my side when I found the family of Mountain Bluebirds in good light plus they were close enough to take quality photos of them, first the male then the female and the juveniles.
While these Barn Swallow photos aren't million dollar shots the experiences I shared with my mother while we photographed this bird together are worth everything to me.
I've been photographing nesting Cedar Waxwings and I have to say that it tests my skills and is a true challenge because of the light, how quickly these birds move and the cluttered habitat.
As a bird photographer I have found that it is easy to make any species of owl look interesting and appealing in my images but it is more of a challenge to do that with Turkey Vultures but that doesn't mean I don't try. I will always try.
Two days ago I spent time photographing nesting House Wrens in the high Uintas near Mirror Lake Highway, of interest to me is that two years ago I photographed Red-naped Sapsuckers using this same nesting cavity.
May... the month where baby Uinta Ground Squirrels seem to show up everywhere within their favorite habitats which include shrubsteppe habitat, meadows and pastures with elevations of between 4,000 and 8,010 feet in areas of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Utah.
I was delighted to be able to photograph the female Yellow Warbler as she fed her young and to watch the fledgling as it fluttered its wings and gulped down the food the female brought it.
Green-tailed Towhees are migratory so I don't see them year round in Utah like I do their close relatives the Spotted Towhees. Green-tailed Towhees spend their winters in the southern most parts of the U.S. and in Mexico and I miss seeing a hearing them while they are away.
When it comes to small birds like Yellow-rumped Warblers I prefer photographing them in clean habitats over cluttered habitats because the small birds stand out better when the background isn't so messy.
I get absolutely tired of the frustrations I have had trying to photograph Golden Eagles, it seems that something or someone always messes with my chances of getting the images I want of them.
It looked to me like this Yellow-bellied Marmot pup was doing CrossFit, a move my son who is active in CrossFit tells me is called a "bar muscle up". By then I was laughing so hard that it was hard to maintain focus on the marmot pup while it was hanging there on the fence.
Taking photographs of shorebirds at eye level was very fulfilling for me and the images that resulted from my down & dirty technique have always made me feel an intimate connection to the birds.
I dug into my archives and picked these Northern Flicker photos from May of 2015 to share today because I saw a Northern Flicker yesterday and thought of how they will soon start excavating their nesting cavities to rear their young in.