I spent part of my morning yesterday photographing American Avocet and Black-necked Stilt chicks from the auto tour route at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and it was a blast watching these young shorebirds.
Three days ago I was tickled to finally see some American Avocet chicks on the marsh at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, I've been waiting to see these little puff balls this year!
Both the female and male Killdeer incubate so there is no way for me to tell what the gender of this Killdeer is but it stayed on the scrape while I photographed it and didn't move.
I only had this Spotted Sandpiper in my view for about 24 seconds and I'd say more than half of that was spent flying around so I am glad that I was able to take this photo at all.
Two days ago while near the Weber River up in Summit County I heard a familiar sound and I knew from that sound that a Spotted Sandpiper was nearby.
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.
While looking for Sage Thrashers to photograph on Antelope Island two days ago I swear I heard a Willet call. It was just one distant call but my ears perked up right away.
The road is nothing more than a sandy track that runs through a grassland area where in past years I have seen Long-billed Curlews displaying, fighting, courting and mating and I hoped to see that yesterday.
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.
Yesterday when I saw, heard and photographed these Long-billed Curlews while on Antelope Island I was reminded of all the times I have taken photos of these large shorebirds here in Utah, Montana and in Florida and how I have enjoyed having an intimate view of their lives both through my lens and with my eyes.
This morning I'm thinking back on warmer days where I took photos of Spotted Sandpipers on the Gulf Coast as they scurried among those oyster beds looking for food and somehow I feel just a little bit warmer looking at this photo and the howling wind doesn't seem quite so loud.
I've been seeing lots of Greater Yellowlegs recently at Farmington Bay WMA here in northern Utah and that might seem unusual because signs of winter have already shown but it really isn't that unusual at all for this species of shorebirds.
Because of the avocet's determination to chase off this Greater Yellowlegs I was able to photograph it lifting off from the water with water still dripping from its feet and with the shorebird's head framed by its wings.
Red-necked and Wilson's Phalaropes have started their fall migration and one of the places where they gather in large numbers is the Great Salt Lake where they show up in the tens of thousands to feed and rest before continuing their journey.
It is always nice to be able to point out a lifer bird to someone else and that is what I did on June 25th after I spotted a tiny Snowy Plover at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge foraging in the mud.
Last week when I took my Mom to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge we were fortunate to see and photograph Killdeer mating while on the auto tour route.
Eight days ago it was sunny and bright and I was out having fun photographing a pair of foraging American Avocets in breeding plumage at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in northern Utah.
Four days ago I was able to take my first photographs of Long-billed Curlews this year on Antelope Island State Park and although I was disappointed in the quality of most of the images I took I enjoyed seeing these large sandpipers again.
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.
It was one year ago today that I saw and heard my first Long-billed Curlews of the year and this morning as I sit here knowing there are cloudy skies outside I am wondering if the curlews have returned to northern Utah today as well.
A few nights ago I opened the door to check out the cloud cover and weather conditions before going to bed and for the first time since I moved to Utah I heard a flock of calling Killdeer flying past in the pitch black night.
I'm excited that the American Avocets, American White Pelicans and Sandhill Cranes have returned to northern Utah because I look forward to seeing and photographing them again.
When I look up at the tops of the Wasatch, Oquirrh, Stansbury and Promontory mountain ranges and they look more like late April or May than they do on a normal winter because there is just so little snow up there.
On a May morning in 2008 while photographing this Wilson's Plover it began to scratch itself with its foot and when I took this photo it looked like the plover was dancing.
Among my favorite plovers to photograph when I lived in Florida were Semipalmated Plovers, I only saw them during their nonbreeding season where they spent time along the Gulf coast.
This Short-billed Dowitcher slowly made its way through the Sargassum on the wrack line as I laid in the damp sand photographing it and the other shorebirds that were searching the seaweed for food.
I wanted to share this photo of a Sanderling racing the waves at Fort De Soto County Park in Florida because I photographed it on a warm, sunny day.
There are big differences in the ways I photograph Greater Yellowlegs here in Utah than there were when I photographed them in Florida.
Last month I was able to photograph flocks of Red-necked Phalaropes on the Great Salt Lake when they were migrating through the area.
When I look at this photo of the juvenile Sanderling I see a bird that was so relaxed that it fell asleep while I photographed it because it was comfortable with my presence and I felt honored that it was.