Female Horned Lark on a February morning
Yesterday I took a few images of a Horned Lark male singing on Antelope Island State Park and it reminded me that I hadn't posted this image of a female Horned Lark that I photographed last year.
Yesterday I took a few images of a Horned Lark male singing on Antelope Island State Park and it reminded me that I hadn't posted this image of a female Horned Lark that I photographed last year.
The Snowy Egrets of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge never fail to delight me with their bright white plumage, golden feet, bright yellow lores and feathery plumes.
There are two subspecies of Willets in North America and during the breeding season in Utah the birds we see are the Western subspecies.
I have often written how I long to hear the first Long-billed Curlew in the spring but I feel I should mention that I also anxiously await the first calls of migrating Willets too.
I was ready when I thought this Western Meadowlark was going to take flight but instead the meadowlark took a flying leap towards the ground.
In the fall of 2011 I enjoyed being able to photograph this first year Prairie Falcon several times close to the Great Salt Lake in Utah.
After seeing few Chukars on Antelope Island State Park over the winter it is a delight to see them perching on rocks, preening, calling and warming up in the first rays of sunlight on the island again.
In the West Desert of Utah there are a few places in Tooele County I can almost be sure to find Horned Larks warming themselves in the morning light on rocks and boulders.
Rough-legged Hawks are on their way south from their Arctic breeding grounds and will soon be making their appearance here in Utah.
I was able to photograph this Barn Swallow on Antelope Island yesterday as it rested on a rock and as I took images the swallow opened its bill for a few frames.
I wanted to share a sampler of bird images that I have taken over the past week in Davis and Box Elder Counties.
Yesterday I was lucky enough to find and point out this springtime Raven perched in front of a field of pink Filaree, a wildflower from the Geranium family.
The only native true lark that lives and breeds in North America is the Horned Lark.
March is a month when I begin to anticipate the arrival of Willets, I have been listening carefully for them and hoping to catch sight of them along the causeway to Antelope Island any day now.
One year ago today it was slow on Antelope Island, not many birds were close enough to photograph but on the way home I spotted this female Brewer's Blackbird on some rocks near one of the bridges on the causeway to the island.
I came across this Common Raven perched on a small rock in an open field that had been feeding on roadkill on the shoulder of the road.
It was the first time I have been able to photograph a California Gull with nesting material so I was quite pleased.
Willets have returned to Utah, on the causeway to Antelope Island hundreds of them can be seen in the shallow water. They seem to spend some time there fattening up after migration before they get down to the serious business of mating and rearing their young.
Had I not seen that moving, tan blob beyond my viewfinder I could have easily missed being able to create these Chukar images. Sure, I have hundreds (if not thousands) of Chukar images but I am always looking for different poses, light conditions and settings to photograph my subjects in and this worked out very well.
Tis the season of changes, for a bit it acts like winter and soon switches to act like spring. . The flute like call of Western Meadowlarks is a sound I associate with spring and lately I have been hearing them quite often.
After I published my article titled Wild and Wonderful - Antelope Island - The Birds earlier this week I realized I didn't include any images of the doves found on the island so today I thought I would post a Mourning Dove.
Horned Larks and Western Meadowlarks are birds that I enjoy photographing all year long in Utah and yesterday they gave me some wonderful opportunities.
Wow, two nemesis birds photographed in a week, this Prairie Falcon was amazing. I'll be grinning (and dancing) about this for quite awhile!
Ravens hold a special place in my heart because they are smart (actually brilliant for birds), collectors of things shiny and/or odd, they let you know about their presence with hoarse croaking sounds and they are very amusing to observe and photograph.
Not too long after I had gotten to my location I spotted a Western Meadowlark hunkered down on a rock trying to warm up with the rays of the rising sun.