Yearly Archives: 2012

Chukar Images – 4 Hits – 1 Miss

By |December 31st, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Chukars, Davis County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday I spotted a covey of Chukars on Antelope Island foraging in the snow, this Chukar was pulling guard duty and standing on top of a snow covered rock and for a bit it was calling.

600th post – An Antelope Island Snow Day

By |December 30th, 2012|Categories: American Bison, Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Chukars, Coyotes, Davis County, Utah, Western Meadowlarks, White-crowned Sparrows|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I wanted to share a few images taken two days ago when Antelope Island was covered with a fresh snow fall. The entire island looked glorious and the sunlight caused the snow to sparkle much to my delight.

Common Raven in the snow – An exposure problem

By |December 29th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Common Ravens, Exposure Compensation, Light angles, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Photographing dark birds such as this Common Raven is a challenge and knowing how to expose properly as well as getting the right angle of light is critical in producing a quality image.

Chukar In Fresh Fallen Snow

By |December 28th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Chukars, Davis County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

Fresh snow fell on Antelope Island last night and it made for wonderful settings for the subjects I photographed this morning like this Chukar. I haven't been seeing the Chukars regularly lately so I was very pleased to see them again.

Tricolored Heron Shaking It Up On Tip Toes

By |December 28th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Tricolored Herons|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The Great Blue Heron I photographed on Christmas Day seems to have focused my attention on wading birds, yesterday it was Reddish Egrets and this morning I present a Tricolored Heron shaking its feather while on tip toes

Reddish Egret Morphs

By |December 27th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Reddish Egrets|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

These two Reddish Egrets; a dark and a white morph, were photographed on the same day at Fort De Soto's north beach in May of 2009 and both of them were showing signs of being in breeding plumage.

Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge – Christmas Day 2012

By |December 26th, 2012|Categories: Bald Eagles, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Great Blue Herons, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Christmas Day of 2012 turned out to be as beautiful as I hoped at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge because of bright skies, snow on the ground, birds and the expansive views.

Images of Christmas Past – Happy Holidays

By |December 25th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Australia, Bald Eagles, Birds, Burnie, Common Mergansers, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Northern Harriers, Roseate Spoonbills, Tasmania|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday I took a stroll down memory lane, actually I looked for images I have taken either on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day in my files but in a way that is taking a stroll down memory lane.

Juvenile White-crowned Sparrow In A Snow Storm

By |December 24th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Low light, Small in the frame, Utah, White-crowned Sparrows|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

The White-crowned Sparrow in this image is small in the frame, the bird isn't super sharp and there isn't a lot of contrast or color to the photo either yet the image speaks to me.

More on Escaped Falconry Birds

By |December 23rd, 2012|Categories: American Kestrels, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Peregrine Falcons, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Throughout these three experiences in finding escaped falconry birds what I have learned is that falconry is for experts not for people who just think it is cool to have a pet raptor.

Short-billed Dowitcher On The Wrack Line

By |December 20th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Short-billed Dowitchers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I photographed this Short-billed Dowitcher and the out of focus Sanderling the day after a storm had pushed mounds of Sargassum seaweed onto the wrack line and the birds were busy looking for food within it.

Fledgling Burrowing Owl

By |December 19th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Burrowing Owls, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

This fledgling Burrowing Owl was just learning to fly at the time and wasn't always great at landing. When I took this image it had made a soft crash landing into the Rabbitbrush and it was trying to get its balance back.

Western Meadowlark Lift Off

By |December 18th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Utah, Western Meadowlarks|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

This Western Meadowlark image was taken last month on Antelope Island State Park. I meant to post it earlier but forgot because I got so busy trying to set up my new computer. Life outside of bird photography does get in the way at times.

Red Knot In Early Morning Light

By |December 17th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Pinellas County, Red Knots|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

A simple image of a Red Knot taken in Florida in early morning light. Morning has been; and is, my favorite time of day to photograph birds and other wildlife because the rising sun can add drama and a warm glow to whatever subject I am photographing.

Male American Kestrel Lifting Off

By |December 16th, 2012|Categories: American Kestrels, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

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.

Male Ring-necked Pheasant in marsh habitat

By |December 14th, 2012|Categories: Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Ring-necked Pheasants, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

Ring-necked Pheasants are colorful upland game birds that are native to Asia and were introduced into North America for recreational hunting purposes and now occur widespread across southern Canada and in many areas of the U.S. except for some of the southern states.

Female Northern Harrier in flight

By |December 13th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Typically I see far more Northern Harriers in the winter here in Utah than I do during the breeding season which might be partly due to the harriers preferring to nest within marshy wetland areas which are in abundance around the Great Salt Lake.

Hatch Year Red-tailed Hawk

By |December 12th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I recall that when I first started photographing the juvenile Red-tailed Hawks in this area back in August that they missed their prey more times than they would capture it and now they seem to have gone the other way, they are catching the prey more than they are missing it.

Wilson’s Plover in habitat

By |December 11th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Wilson's Plovers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

This Wilson's Plover and its mate were being run ragged chasing after the two chicks they had fledged, this adult stopped in front of me where I had laid down in the sugary white sand and rested a few moments in the dried Sea Purslane stalks.

Black-billed Magpie Stretching

By |December 10th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Black-billed Magpies, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

There was a bit of sun yesterday between snow falls and we headed out to Antelope Island hoping there would be light and birds. There was light and a few birds, this Black-billed Magpie was one of them.

Adult Prairie Falcon With A Full Crop

By |December 8th, 2012|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Prairie Falcons, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I wish I had been in a better position with a better angle of light but due to vegetation growing along the road there were just a few clear areas between the Rabbitbrush to get an unobstructed view of the Prairie Falcon but I do like how the photo shows off the full crop.

Song Sparrows In Winter Conditions

By |December 7th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Song Sparrows, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Song Sparrows are found throughout the U.S. and into Canada, some populations move south during the winter to southern states and northern Mexico. So far 30 subspecies of Song Sparrows have been described.

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