A little more than a week ago I spotted this Forster's Tern resting on a log in the water at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge from the auto tour loop and I felt I had to hop out and take a few images from across the hood of my Jeep
People usually think of American Coot chicks as either cute or ugly, I'm in the cute camp when it comes to these chicks.
Yesterday morning I drove up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge to see what birds I could find to photograph and I am glad I did because I had a wonderful juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron close up experience.
I'm happy with both images of this female American Avocet but I think I prefer the second image more because the reflections of the water add a sense of depth and more visual interest that I find lacking in the first photo.
The differences in breeding and nonbreeding plumage of Forster's Terns is enough that some bird watching and bird photography novices might even think that they are two different species of terns.
The pair of American Avocets were feeding in the grasses and the water right next to the edge of the grasses when I first saw them then the female squatted down on what I presume to be their nest.
Little Blue Herons start off their lives with white plumage, then look piebald with blue and white fathers and finally look more "blue" as adults.
I'm happy that the Clark's and Western Grebes have returned for their breeding season at the refuge and I look forward to photographing them while they are here.
I expect to see Greater Yellowlegs soon because they are one of the first shorebirds to migrate through Utah on their way to their breeding grounds.
When I came across this Western Grebe family image that I took at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I knew this was an image that made me think of spring.
Common Gallinules and American Coots are both from the Rallidae family and there are some similarities in their appearance, for instance both have a triangular bill with a frontal shield at the top.
I have mentioned before how one good bird can make a day and yesterday that bird was a male American Kestrel resting and preening at Farmington Bay WMA.
When I saw this Pied-billed Grebe bathing at Farmington Bay I couldn't resist photographing it as it splashed water all over itself.
The American Kestrel was perched on an arching wild rose branch with prey in his bill when I photographed him with snow covered ice and the Wasatch Mountains in the background
While photographing a Great Blue Heron at the first bridge I spotted a dark shape running, slipping and sliding on the snow-covered ice and could see that it was a Raccoon.
As I focused on the Great Blue Heron I could tell it was an immature bird braving its first winter alone in the marshes of Farmington Bay.
Wilson's Snipes are medium-sized, stocky shorebirds that can be found in Utah year round despite the ice, freezing temperatures and heavy snow we have here during our winters.
This Redhead drake photographed at the refuge in his breeding plumage sure stood out well from the water that was reflecting the spring growth of rushes and phragmites.
I photographed this Green Heron at Sawgrass Lake Park in Pinellas County, Florida with my first DSLR, a Nikon D70, when I was just getting into bird photography.
Last month I captured a series of images of an immature Pied-billed Grebe running across the water with prey in its bill at Farmington Bay WMA.
I photographed this California Gull hovering over the Bear River with the snow covered Promontory Mountains in the back ground while it looked for prey in the open water below.
I was able take one image of the American Kestrel landing with a grasshopper in his bill that was sharp and that I liked.
I was delighted by several tiny Marsh Wrens foraging in some cattails close enough to photograph with autumn colors in the background.
We do see Herring Gulls in northern Utah during the winter and I was able to photograph this one as it circled over the water with the snow-covered Promontory Mountains and sky behind it.
I took a series of action photos of this immature Pied-billed Grebe running on the water with its prey as it was being chased by another grebe that was trying to steal the food this young grebe had caught.
Brewer's Blackbirds are year round residents in northern Utah and in the autumn they form large flocks that move through open field looking for seeds and fallen grain.
To the untrained eye American Bitterns and Black-crowned Night Herons can be confused so I thought I'd visually compare the two species with other keys to aid in their identification.
Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge hosts up to 13,000 Tundra Swans during November through December where they utilize the freshwater wetland habitats on the refuge.
Two days ago when I found this Great Blue Heron resting in the goose nest I knew I had to photograph it because of the autumn colors in the background.
Last fall I photographed this beautiful Mule Deer buck at Bear River MBR in rut as he followed a doe around the frost-covered marsh.