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Please be sure to check out my photo galleries for an extensive collection of images I have taken through the years. There are photos of birds, wildlife, flora, landscapes, miscellaneous images, plus photos of my Favorite Locations and Travel Postcards.  
Female American Kestrel perched on a mound of dirt in the west desert – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/2000, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited A few days ago I spotted this female American Kestrel on the road to Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, and I do mean in the road. She almost didn’t move even when the pickup was 20 feet from her as we rolled to a stop. I don’t know if we were in Tooele or Juab County at that point but it did seem to be an odd place for an American Kestrel to be, miles from the closest cliffs or mountains and in an area were the vegetation was almost nonexistent. She flew up from the road and landed on one of the trail markers for the Pony Express and from there across the road to perch on a small mound of dirt.
American Kestrel female about to lift off from a mound of dirt in the west desert - Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/2000, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited I took four images of the female kestrel while she was on that mound of dirt last Wednesday and I hoped that my exposure was going to work because I didn’t have time to change it before she lifted off and flew out over the arid desert. This was my last image of her before she left and I love the pose she left me with along with the memories of an American Kestrel in the west desert of Utah. I don’t know why she was there but I am very glad she was. Mia
The Willets are moving into their nesting territory on Antelope Island State Park and I am excited about that, what I am not excited about is that the biting gnats (no-see-ums) are back too. I love to hear the Willets calling either from their perches or when they are in flight. This Willet had just lifted off from a Sagebrush where it had been calling. I did clone a bit of the very top of the Sagebrush out at the lower right portion of this frame.
Further south on the island this Willet was on the ground where it had most likely been foraging and it stopped to shake its feathers and fluff them up.
Then it moved a bit closer to the pickup and stood at alert. I think the tiny pink flowers add to the last two images. The biting gnats… The nasty buggers will be trying to suck the blood out of me for at least the next six weeks every time I go to the island but I am not going to let them stop me from photographing the wonderful birds and great wildlife I see there. Mia
This is a rather short tale about a Red-tailed Hawk although the tail of the Red-tailed Hawk is no shorter than any other Red-tailed Hawk. It is just a tale of a perched Red-tailed Hawk adult …
Who lifted off from its lofty perch…
To soar and survey its kingdom…
And to give me a look at its regal eye as it flew past me in its royal plumage. Mia More Red-tailed Hawk images
I must admit that when I first saw the Mountain Plovers I reported on Antelope Island State Park I knew exactly what I was looking at because I had dreamed of seeing Mountain Plovers and had studied their appearance in every guidebook and app that I own. Even though I was looking at a tiny bird that was about a football field and a half away in distance and the light on the bird was bad, I knew I was seeing a bird I had longed to see. But there are a few similar species that occur in Utah and surrounding states that could be confused with Mountain Plovers. Killdeer look similar but there are some key ID features that help with identification. Killdeer have very dark breast bands, a red orbital ring around very dark eyes, a black collar that encircles the neck, a dark cheek patch (auriculars), brownish upper parts, white belly and a brownish crown.
Mountain Plovers lack the double breast bands, the red orbital ring around the eyes, light colored auriculars, sandy brown upper parts, a black line that runs from the bill to the eyes in breeding plumage, black crown with a white forehead and a pale belly. Mountain Plovers also lack the double breast band that is unique to Killdeer. Both birds do have thin, black bills.
It would be easy to see the differences between a Mountain Plover and a Black-bellied Plover in breeding plumage but at long distances Black-bellied Plovers in nonbreeding plumage could possibly be mistaken for Mountain Plovers. Black-bellied Plovers are larger but at a distance that would be hard to see. Black-bellied Plovers have a thicker, longer bill than Mountain Plovers do. They have checkered upper parts, darker legs and their chest can have streaks on it. Their bodies also appear more rounded than Mountain Plovers.
It always helps to have high quality images to use in making ID’s but there are times that is not possible and at that point any photo is better than none. It would also help to make notes on the size, shape, color, behavior and other ID keys such as size of the bill, plumage patterns, leg length and color and more. Recently on the ABA Rare Bird Alert Facebook page there was a possible Mountain Plover reported in Jasper County, South Carolina that had an interesting discussion on the reported sighting where the ID has been decided that is was an American Golden Plover. The sighting was posted on April 16th but photographed the same day as I photographed the pair I found on Antelope Island, Utah. I found the discussion interesting. Bird identification can be fun and very challenging, sometime more challenging than not. Mia  12 comments  Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Black-bellied Plovers, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Killdeer, Mountain Plovers, Shorebirds, Utah  Antelope Island State Park, bird photography, birds, black-bellied plover, Charadrius montanus, Charadrius vociferus, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, florida, Fort De Soto County Park, killdeer, Mia McPherson, Mountain Plover, nature, nature photography, photography, Pluvialis squatarola, utah, wildlife, wildlife photography |
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Photographing a Tricolored Heron from a tidal lagoon 
 
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