Adult Male Short-eared Owl Flying In Front Of A Stormy Sky
This isn't the kind of Short-eared Owl image you'll see in a bird guide but when you are looking for these owls in the field sometimes a view like this is all you will get.
This isn't the kind of Short-eared Owl image you'll see in a bird guide but when you are looking for these owls in the field sometimes a view like this is all you will get.
If I can find a protective head net that actually works I might just venture back out onto the island after the no-see-ums come out because I miss photographing nesting Loggerhead Shrikes.
No matter how these Golden Eagle photos came to be I am happy to have photographed this magnificent bird on the wing.
The Great Blue Herons were hunkered down in the rushes with the warmth of the sunlight on them but they still looked cold.
Yesterday I was able to focus on this American Robin as it foraged in the branches of a crabapple tree and took a nice, long series of images of the handsome red-breasted thrush.
I wanted to take the time to wish my brother a Happy Birthday here on my blog and it seemed fitting to use this photo of a Barn Owl hunting in daylight that I took seven years ago today.
I could wish that there weren't any branches in front of the hawk but honestly it just felt good to not have something happen to ruin my opportunity to photograph this Rough-legged Hawk.
I know some people don't get excited about gulls but I do and I was thrilled two days ago at Bear River MBR when I spotted and photographed my first Herring Gulls of this winter season.
While this male American Kestrel struggled to maintain his grip on the thin branches of the Tamarisk I struggled to keep him in my viewfinder.
Yesterday morning I didn't press my DSLR's shutter button a single time while I was out in the field so I came home without a single photo of a bird or animal but I did come home with something else. Knowledge.
Wherever you are, whatever holidays you celebrate if you celebrate at all, I wish you joy, peace and hope that you will feel the love of your family and friends today and every day.
I was delighted when I spotted this female American Kestrel perched high on a crabapple tree next to a road near the Jordan River and pleased that she stuck around for a few photos.
Sometimes I wonder how birds get their names, especially the birds with "Common" in their names such as Common Mergansers.
With scores of pipits flying in, flying out and moving around on the rocks it was a challenge to decide which bird to have in my viewfinder.
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.
I photographed this young male Red-winged Blackbird singing at the top of a Russian olive tree at Farmington Bay WMA nine days ago.
Usually when I see and photograph Savannah Sparrows they are on barbed wire, fence posts, railings or on the ground so seeing a Savannah on rocks was a nice change for me.
For a few moments yesterday morning I was absolutely enchanted by a small flock of Ruby-crowned Kinglets in Box Elder County in northern Utah.
I live in such a beautiful state and even though birds are my primary focus as subjects the natural world that surrounds me is endlessly fascinating, stunning and I hope I never lose the sense of wonder I feel when I see it.
Yesterday I was delighted when I spotted a Warbling Vireo at the top of some nearby willows and that the vireo stayed long enough for me to take a few photos of it.
The best bird I spotted that I could photograph was a male Red-tailed Hawk resting on a cliff face and what I loved about this photo was all the grasses, lichen, wildflowers and the sage high up on the cliff.
I don't see and photograph foxes as often as I would like to so this Red Fox was a surprise to me because I'd never seen one at this location before.
Sometimes I go out to look for birds to photograph and all I get are great views of the scenery, sometimes I am okay with that and sometimes it is very frustrating.
I love the darkness and the light in the stormy sky in the background, how well lit the Short-eared Owl was and the position of his wings in flight and I like that he is small in this frame because this is often the view that I and others have of these wonderful owls in the field.
If I hadn't already been stopped to photograph the blackbird I wouldn't have seen this immature Bald Eagle flying towards me in time to take the photos that I took of it on the wing.
It took a long time but I have gotten On The Wing Photography moved to the new server.
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.
It isn't often that my best photo of the day is a simple cell phone snap but that is kind of what happened yesterday at Farmington Bay WMA.
Yesterday morning I spent time focused on photographing Ruby-crowned Kinglets in a Wasatch Mountain Canyon in a thicket of hawthorn and chokecherry trees.
I pulled over to the left side of the road after I passed the bush and the bird and I succeeded in getting the Cedar Waxwing in fairly good light with a cloudy sky background.