Today I am celebrating having published 2000 posts on birds, wildlife and nature at On The Wing Photography and sharing the stories behind the images along with the journeys I take to find my subjects.
On the last day of 2015 I photographed this Song Sparrow without a tail on Antelope Island State Park during the early morning while frost still clung to branch the sparrow was perched on.
I photographed this California Gull hovering over the Bear River with the snow covered Promontory Mountains in the back ground while it looked for prey in the open water below.
Well, it finally snowed in the Salt Lake Valley last night and when I woke there was a layer of snow on the grass outside my window.
I have to say that when I viewed this image on my monitor of the Ferruginous Hawk taking off from the power pole yesterday that I laughed out loud.
When the partially leucistic Red-tailed Hawk lifted off from the power pole I was able to capture photos of it in flight and I was stunned by the beauty of the hawk, pictures do not do this bird justice.
Although there is speculation that one day Marsh Wrens might be split into Eastern and Western species for this post the word split is only about a pose I see Marsh Wrens in quite often.
Twice in the past two weeks I have seen Bald Eagles, one four year old bird in flight over the marshes at Farmington Bay WMA and one juvenile perched in a tree up in Box Elder County.
Most of the American Avocets have migrated away from northern Utah but most years we can have a few stragglers that haven't migrated by this time of the year
This time of the year I start looking for Peregrine Falcons to show up near the shoreline of the Great Salt Lake because of the high numbers of ducks that are usually there.
A few days ago I photographed this adult White-crowned Sparrow perched on a wild rose bush that is absolutely covered in red rose hips at Farmington Bay WMA.
Yesterday at Farmington Bay I was pleased to photograph this juvenile Northern Harrier female in flight as she went past me while I sat in a mobile blind.
I was able take one image of the American Kestrel landing with a grasshopper in his bill that was sharp and that I liked.
Finding a flock of Wild Turkeys close enough to photograph in the Promontory Mountain Range of Box Elder County yesterday was exciting and challenging too.
I am so glad the American Bison were saved from extinction and that I see the Antelope Island State Park herd as often as I do.
I was delighted by several tiny Marsh Wrens foraging in some cattails close enough to photograph with autumn colors in the background.
I wasn't expecting to see a handsome male Belted Kingfisher at Farmington Bay WMA yesterday but that is exactly what happened and I was able to get some nice photos of him too.
Several of the Red-winged Blackbirds were feeding on the fluffy rabbitbrush seeds next to a parking area including this male.
Maybe next time I up in the canyons I will get lucky and spot some of the Wild Turkeys that make their home in the Stansbury Mountains.
We do see Herring Gulls in northern Utah during the winter and I was able to photograph this one as it circled over the water with the snow-covered Promontory Mountains and sky behind it.
There were at least 50 Ring-billed Gulls at Bear River MBR diving into the open water looking for fish that winter morning which gave me plenty of chances to photograph them.
Earlier this year in January I was able to photograph a American Barn Owl in flight flying directly towards me with the snowy Promontory Mountains in the background while at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
When I took this image of a Red-tailed Hawk fluttering its wings on a pole in Box Elder County earlier this month I didn't think I'd like it and I am still not sure if I do.
Red-breasted Mergansers do not breed in Utah, they breed much further north in Alaska, across northern Canada to New Newfoundland and the Great Lakes of Michigan but they do migrate through this area.
I went to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge yesterday hoping to see and photograph my first of the season Tundra Swans and Rough-legged Hawks, I dipped on the swans but found at least 5 of the hawks.
This year was exceptional for photographing Short-eared Owls in Utah, Idaho and Montana and being able to see them in all the stages of their growth.
Of the images I took that day on the beach, and there were tons of them, this image of a Laughing Gull sliding across the water as it chased a fish in the shallow waves was one of my favorites.
I took a series of action photos of this immature Pied-billed Grebe running on the water with its prey as it was being chased by another grebe that was trying to steal the food this young grebe had caught.
Brewer's Blackbirds are year round residents in northern Utah and in the autumn they form large flocks that move through open field looking for seeds and fallen grain.
Yesterday I spent time photographing a cooperative yet unexpected Barn Owl at Farmington Bay, unexpected simply because Barn Owl are primarily nocturnal and I saw it during the day.