Juvenile Dark-eyed Junco, Trial Lake and Mirror Lake Highway
I was delighted to photograph a lovely, little Dark-eyed Junco juvenile perched in a conifer near Washington Lake which is not too far from Trial Lake and the Mirror Lake Highway.
I was delighted to photograph a lovely, little Dark-eyed Junco juvenile perched in a conifer near Washington Lake which is not too far from Trial Lake and the Mirror Lake Highway.
I did find one jewel in the images, a photo of one of the adult Red-naped Sapsuckers flying away from the nesting cavity looking like a bullet.
I saw my first juvenile Swainson's Hawk of the year last week and although it didn't give me any opportunities to take better images of it I was happy to see it perched on a power pole.
It does seem odd though to see Great Blue Herons hanging around the Great Salt Lake after the chicks have fledged like this immature heron I photographed yesterday near the causeway.
I loved taking photos of birds on those old fence posts like this male Short-eared Owl that was looking down to the ground for prey.
When I look at this photo of the juvenile Sanderling I see a bird that was so relaxed that it fell asleep while I photographed it because it was comfortable with my presence and I felt honored that it was.
Finding birds was very challenging yesterday in the canyons of the Stansbury Mountains but it wasn't hard to find beauty in the scenery.
Shorebirds begin their fall migration early and for those of us who live in the Great Salt Lake ecosystem that means looking for them in the marshes around the lake and on the lake itself.
This juvenile Red-tailed Hawk may have looked like it was giving me the eye when I photographed it but it was actually looking for one of its parents to bring it some food.
There are lots of Canada Geese near where I live in part because of the grassy golf course that is not too far away and because of the Jordan River and several small ponds that are just down the hill.
Birds aren't always neat looking, feathers wear, birds molt and young birds transitioning from their juvenal plumage into adult plumage can look quite disheveled or messy.
Thousands upon thousands of Black-necked Stilts make the marshes at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in northern Utah their home during their breeding season.
Today is the day for SpiderFest on Antelope Island State Park, a celebration of the interesting spiders that live on the island.
This image kind of looks like I photographed a two-headed juvenile Western Kingbird but it is really an optical illusion.
Some Tundra Swans migrate from the arctic tundra using the Great Basin hub of the Pacific flyway and huge flocks of them spend the winter here.
Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge was calling me yesterday morning and I answered that call and photographed several White-faced Ibis from the auto tour route.
I have my ears and my eyes to thank for finding the Yellow Warblers and their young foraging near a creek in a canyon.
On the way home I did spot a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk sitting on a power pole near Blue Creek Spring and I put my lens on it because I was hoping it would take flight after it finished preening itself on the pole.
This Great Blue Heron wandered past me one December morning at Fort De Soto County Park's north beach on a gray, windy day and because it was close I simply had to take a photo of the large wading bird.
I do not believe that this bird was one of the pair of adult Red-naped Sapsuckers I photographed feeding the chick in the nesting cavity, his bib and breast markings were different from the other adult birds.
There was a tribe of juvenile Black-billed Magpies on Antelope Island State Park yesterday down near White Rock Bay that were wandering around in the area near the Buffalo Point trailhead
While stopped at a gate at Red Rock lakes NWR a Tree Swallow flew in and landed on a fence post so close that I wasn't sure I was going to be able to focus on it but I had to try.
Some of the birds I see often while at the Lower Lake of Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Montana are Savannah Sparrows and I love to photograph them there.
When I spotted two bull elk early in the morning in the sagebrush of the Centennial Valley on the 10th of July I was very excited and started taking photos as soon as I could.
Two days ago I watched and photographed as April Olson who is a volunteer at Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah release a rehabbed Burrowing Owl and it was very exciting for me because I've never been to a release before
I was pleased and relieved to see the surviving Red-tailed Hawk juvenile perched on a corral close to the edge of the road and looking well fed and healthy.
I will probably never see and photograph so many leucistic Eared Grebes again in my life time as I did yesterday on the Great Salt Lake.
I didn't have the good fortune to photograph another Cassin's Finch on my trip so I am glad I took the time to take photos of this one looking around his home in the Centennial Valley of Montana.
I can't resist photographing birds or wildlife up close so I swung my lens around and focused on the face of the Mule Deer and laughed out loud because she was covered in spiderwebs.
I know how blessed I am to be able to see and photograph the spellbinding spectacle of thousands and thousands of Wilson's Phalaropes lift off and take flight en masse