Preening Brewer’s Blackbird
I have been seeing plenty of blackbirds lately at Farmington Bay WMA and a few days ago I photographed this preening Brewer's Blackbird on a fence post.
I have been seeing plenty of blackbirds lately at Farmington Bay WMA and a few days ago I photographed this preening Brewer's Blackbird on a fence post.
Earlier this month I had the opportunity to photograph a Merlin two mornings in a row in the Centennial Valley of Montana, once in low light and once as a fog rolled in.
This juvenile Swainson's Hawk was photographed earlier this month in Beaverhead County, Montana on a cloudy morning with low light.
In June I published several posts about a pair of Western Kingbirds nesting on Antelope Island State park but unfortunately that nesting attempt failed.
Some times when I am photographing I capture my subjects in funny poses and I think I did exactly that with this Mountain Bluebird female.
I have always liked this American Kestrel image because of the pose and how the female kestrel appears to be peeking at me while she preened.
American Kestrels are fascinating falcons, they are tiny, colorful and at times quite pugnacious.
Farmington Bay Waterfowl Area used to be my "go to" place for photographing Northern Harriers but this winter they are hard to find.
Eastern Kingbirds; like their western counterpart, are fearless and will attack birds as large as Bald Eagles to defend their nests.
Yesterday my post focused on female Mountain Bluebirds and today I am presenting males in honor of Father's Day. I was blessed to have two fathers, one who died when I was very young and later in my second Dad came into my life.
There were Mountain Bluebirds everywhere I looked on my recent trip to Montana where flashes of their brilliant blue plumage were a delight to my eyes.
This male Tree Swallow was perched on a fence post in western Montana last week when I photographed him while the morning light lit him up beautifully.
Buteos are medium to large hawks with broad wings, wide bodies and short tails that soar in wide lazy circles and most often hunt from a high perch from which they drop down to their prey.
I've said before that owls fascinate me; probably more times than I can count, and Short-eared Owls are always a delight.
Northern Rough-winged Swallows have a wide range in North America but because of their drab colors they are often overlooked by bird photographers, they are the "plain brown bird" of the swallow family.
Normally we have Western Meadowlarks year round here in the Salt Lake Valley but because this past winter was harsh it seemed that they moved south for a bit. They are back now and singing their songs of spring.
There is something about American Kestrels that speaks to me. They might be our smallest falcon in North America but they have big attitudes, fierce characters and are terrific hunters.
This juvenile Red-tailed Hawk was concentrating on some thing on the ground when I photographed it.
Not only did I see numerous Red-tailed Hawk juveniles on my recent trip to Montana, I also saw quite a few Swainson's Hawk (Buteo swainsoni) juveniles too.
This Lincoln's Sparrow was photographed last month at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, the spring green leaves in the distant background sure don't compete with the subtle beauty of this sparrow.
I always look forward to seeing and photographing Eastern Kingbirds (Tyrannus tyrannus) during the warmer months of the year. I was fortunate to see a few yesterday at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in northern Utah.
How blue can blue be? I think Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoide) males are a wonderful example of just how blue a bird can be.
Brewer's Blackbirds may not be the most well known of the Blackbird family; I am fairly certain that the Red-winged Blackbirds have that claim to fame, but they are beautiful and interesting subjects to photograph.
Last week though I had the opportunity to photograph a very cooperative Rough-legged Hawk preening.
I believe these two eagle pictures illustrate what changes the depth of field settings can have on the appearance of an image.
A foggy morning at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge brought me 13 minutes of joy after spotting a shape on the gravel road, it was a female Short-eared Owl and she flew up and landed on a post not too far from the road.