Immature Red-tailed Hawk Close Up
The thing about this immature Red-tailed Hawk photo is this: I don't like the background color because I see these colors, tones and hues so frequently where I live in northern Utah.
Male Great-tailed Grackle Portraits
I don't often get to have Great-tailed Grackles in my viewfinder let alone have them close enough to take portraits of them so when the opportunity presents itself, I jump at the chance.
Male Brewer’s Blackbird Close Up
Yesterday morning I was able to take close up images of a male Brewer's Blackbird in the kind of light that showed all of its beautiful iridescent colors with the silky blue water of a pond in the background.
Photographing A Cooperative Immature Cooper’s Hawk
I couldn't have asked for a better birdy subject yesterday morning than this relaxed and cooperative immature Cooper's Hawk and I loved the setting it was in too.
Immature Black-billed Magpies Flocking In The Wasatch Mountains
I was delighted to photograph the few immature Black-billed Magpies that were close to me and to observe those who were further away foraging and chasing each other around in a field dotted with wildflowers, grasses and sage.
One Brief Glimpse Into The World Of A Green-tailed Towhee
While I know that for some people this Green-tailed Towhee image might be a "little out there" for their tastes and personal preferences I don't photograph birds for them, I photograph birds for me.
Singing Gray Catbird Close Up
Gray Catbirds have returned to northern Utah for their breeding season and I am thrilled to be hearing their songs and calls again.
Male Ring-necked Pheasant And Midges At Bear River MBR
I don't know if the Ring-necked Pheasants eat the midges but I know that many of the other birds at the refuge do so I like to think of midges as bird food on the wing.
Vesper Sparrow Up Close In The Wasatch Mountains
To my surprise when the Vesper Sparrow lifted off it flew onto the top of another sagebrush that was even closer to me which was nearly perfect for taking portraits of the sparrow and I took full advantage of the opportunity.
Adult Uinta Ground Squirrel Close Up In The Wasatch Mountains
I didn't get any photos of the Uinta Ground Squirrels while I was up in the canyons last week and I will need to fix that soon because I adore these furry, dark-eyed ground squirrels.
Staring Dark Morph Swainson’s Hawk Close Up
I've shared photos of this gorgeous dark morph Swainson's Hawk before and I've written about how I believed it was the darkest, dark morph I had ever seen and to date that still holds true.
Spring Killdeer At Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge
I spent my morning yesterday driving on the very muddy auto tour route at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and the birds that I photographed the most were Killdeer, it seemed like I saw them everywhere.
Singing Male Horned Lark Close Up On Antelope Island
This singing male Horned Lark was close enough to me that I could take portraits of him while he sang two days ago and I believe the reason he was so close was that his urge to find a mate overcame his natural wariness.
Resting Black-billed Magpie Close Up On Antelope Island
So far this year the only photo I've taken of the nest building magpies that I have liked is this close up of a resting Black-billed Magpie who was taking a break from looking for nesting materials.
Rough-legged Hawk Expelling A Pellet Close Up Photos
I've never been this close to a Rough-legged Hawk expelling a pellet before and it is likely that I will never be this fortunate again. This Rough-legged Hawk was my best bird for the day and I'm glad I stopped and waited for him to expel the pellet before moving on down the auto tour route.
Calling Ring-billed Gull Close Up In Salt Lake County
It isn't all that often that I am able to photograph a calling Ring-billed Gull close enough that I can get a great view of the inside of its bill so when the opportunity presented itself earlier this week I took advantage of the situation.
Adult American Coot With A Dirty Bill
An American Coot with a dirty bill wasn't shy at all when it climbed out of the pond close enough for me to take portraits of it.
Portraits Of A Great Blue Heron With Nesting Material
It felt amazing to have that Great Blue Heron gift us with its presence for those few seconds. You just never know what might happen when you are out looking for birds.
Wintertime Drake Gadwall Close Up
I'm glad this Gadwall drake came in close so I could take a few photos of him before I turned my attention back to the pair of Hooded Mergansers.
Two First Winter Ring-billed Gull Portraits Of The Same Gull
Both of these portraits of a first winter Ring-billed Gull are of the same bird taken one minute apart just as the light changed from okay to much brighter where the gull had changed its location but only slightly.
Drake American Wigeon Close Ups in Afternoon Light
American Wigeons are here in this area of northern Utah year round but I seem to have my best opportunities with them during the winter. I'm delighted that this drake came in so close.
Christmas Goose
I'm happy that I was able to photograph birds on Christmas Eve in decent light and that somehow to me this is more than "just" a goose, it is a Christmas Goose and who am I to look a gift goose in the bill?
That Wasn’t Cool – Sorry About Those Ads
I recently became aware that there were ads at the bottom of the email that was automatically sent out to you all when I published my blog post this morning.
Great-tailed Grackle Close Up In Late Afternoon Light
I'm glad I had a few seconds to photograph this Great-tailed Grackle up close in the warm afternoon light before it was flushed and flew away.
Male California Quail Close Up – Seeing And Appreciating The Fine Feather Details
Four days ago I was able to take close up photos of a handsome male California Quail in beautiful light while he perched on a fence rail as he looked directly towards me.
Cooper’s Hawk & European Starling Encounter
Then the noise suddenly stopped and I saw the silhouette of a European Starling fly out of the tree with the Cooper's Hawk hot on its tail, literally.
Portrait Of A Winter Ring-billed Gull With Snow On Its Bill
I'm not sure how this Ring-bill Gull got the snow on its bill but when I looked through my viewfinder I liked all of fine details I had in the snow, the bill and the white plumage of the gull and I felt I had to take photos of it.
Portrait Of A First Spring Male Northern Harrier In Northern Utah
It isn't often that I am able to be close enough to a Northern Harrier to take a portrait of one, in fact I can only think of one time that I've been that fortunate and that was in May of 2016.
Female Great-tailed Grackle Portrait In Afternoon Light
This female Great-tailed Grackle was the first bird I photographed yesterday and she was so close to me that I opted to take portraits of her in the nice afternoon light at my local pond.
Charging American Coot Portrait – Communicating By Posture
I photographed this American Coot in February when parts of my local pond were frozen which caused a restriction in the space where the coots, ducks, geese and grebes could feed and there were many territorial squabbles to photograph.