Young Mountain Bluebirds In My Viewfinder
I was happy to have these juvenile Mountain Bluebirds in my viewfinder yesterday and to be able to listen to their soft calls high on the sagebrush dotted hillside.
I was happy to have these juvenile Mountain Bluebirds in my viewfinder yesterday and to be able to listen to their soft calls high on the sagebrush dotted hillside.
Yesterday morning the first birds I spotted in the high country of the Wasatch Mountains were two tiny, butt bouncing Spotted Sandpiper chicks foraging on their own.
Yesterday I didn't miss photographing this gorgeous juvenile Townsend's Solitaire because I remembered to pay attention to what was going on beyond my viewfinder.
I had a great time photographing three recently fledged Red-tailed Hawks from two different nests in northern Utah yesterday morning.
When I saw a Gray Catbird fledgling inch its way up a stick two days ago and then exhibit begging behavior by raising its wings and opening its bill I locked on to it.
There were several Yellow Warbler fledglings in this shrub and the adults were running themselves ragged trying to keep them all fed.
Three days ago one of the birds that the Song Sparrows chased off was an adult female Brown-headed Cowbird that landed on a serviceberry in front of me.
I spent a few minutes photographing some of the cutest Short-eared Owl chicks that were just the width of a ditch away from the road that May morning.
The young Short-eared Owl in this photo was parallaxing when I photographed it in which basically means the fledgling owl was moving its head to gain different viewpoints.
These are the life stages of the Swainson's Hawks I see, observe and photograph here in Utah, Idaho and Montana.
While I was up in Box Elder County, Utah four days ago I spotted my first of season Western Kingbirds chasing each other around in flight near a ranch.
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.
The comparisons I have made between juvenile, immature and adult Sage Thrashers are basic, there are more ways to determine their age but I wanted to keep the comparisons simple.
Two years ago I was able to find and photograph quiet a few young Gray Catbirds high in the Wasatch Mountain canyons including this one who seemed to be keeping an eye on me.
I can't imagine not seeing these beautiful Mountain Bluebirds feeding, breeding and raising their young in the mountains that are close to where I live.
I had fun testing my skills by photographing several immature Forster's Terns that were hunting for and catching prey at Farmington Bay WMA two days ago.
Two days ago I was able to photograph an immature Swainson's Hawk in golden light perched on a fence post that was surrounded by bright yellow common sunflowers. Yes, I was blissed out.
I spent 26 minutes yesterday photographing juvenile Red-tailed Hawk siblings and had a blast watching them preen, lift off, flying, scratching, resting and landing.
My luck with American Goshawks has been horrible and because of that they have earned the distinction of being a nemesis for me.
I was in the high Uinta Mountains near Washington Lake when I spotted this young Dark-eyed Junco and I was able to take a few images of it before it flew away.
I was glad to have so many immature Song Sparrows in my viewfinder that were out in the open on the ground and perched up higher.
The light wasn't great when I took this image of a juvenile Song Sparrow perched in a thicket last year but these little ones don't seem to spend a lot of time in the open right after they fledge so I was happy with the photo.
This was the first immature Green-tailed Towhee I have seen this breeding season and I am hoping that it won't be the last one I photograph this year.
I was excited and enchanted by seeing and photographing at least two Spotted Sandpiper chicks yesterday morning near a creek up in the Wasatch Mountains.
I was extremely pleased to see and photograph my first Gray Catbird juvenile of this breeding season yesterday morning high in the Wasatch Mountains as it came into view on a hawthorn tree.
The soft, early morning light was beautiful when I took these juvenile Cliff Swallow images and I am pleased with how the photos came out.
It is always a thrill for me to photograph Say's Phoebes so when I spotted a family group of them yesterday morning in northern Utah I was delighted.
I dug through my older files and found this photo of a fledgling Mountain Bluebird perched on a wire fence that I photographed in July of 2017 up in Montana's Centennial Valley.
Then the noise suddenly stopped and I saw the silhouette of a European Starling fly out of the tree with the Cooper's Hawk hot on its tail, literally.
The more I have looked at this image over the past year the more I liked it for the flight pose, the look at the Red-tailed Hawk's plumage colors against those yellow leaves and somehow the poor lighting conditions became less significant to my eyes.