I'm going to ask for help later on today from bugguide.net with the identification of this fritillary butterfly. I don't normally have to ask for identification assistance but I need it for this other thing with wings.
Yellow Warblers are anything but mellow instead they are frenetic, hyperactive, frenzied, energetic and move so quickly they sometimes make me dizzy trying to track them with my long lens.
One year ago today I experienced one of the two most frustrating days in my entire time of being a bird photographer while photographing Red-naped Sapsuckers in the Targhee National Forest of Idaho.
Every year in August Antelope Island has a SpiderFest where there are walks and talks about the spiders of that live on the island, I love photographing them and they really aren't so creepy as they seem to be.
Sometimes when the summer heat gets to me I look back at images I have taken during the winter and quite often I find those images to be taken at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and the birds that I find there.
Last month I had a few opportunities to photograph juvenile Mountain Bluebirds in a Wasatch Mountain canyon while they were being fed by adults and as they learned to hunt on their own.
A flash of yellow, black and white on a purple flower immediately drew my eyes to a male American Goldfinch feasting on the seeds of a Musk Thistle so I stopped, turned my Jeep off and proceeded to photograph the bird.
Since a flock of waxwings can be called an “ear-full” of waxwings I thought I'd share a group of Cedar Waxwing photos I have taken over the last month in a canyon in the Wasatch Mountains east of Salt Lake City.
Imagine moving down a gravel road and seeing just a tiny flash of movement and light-colored plumage in a stand of green vegetation and trying to figure out if it is a bright leaf in the breeze or a fledgling Yellow Warbler in a split second.
It is always nice to be able to point out a lifer bird to someone else and that is what I did on June 25th after I spotted a tiny Snowy Plover at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge foraging in the mud.
I have truly been enjoying being able to photograph Gray Catbirds this spring and summer because they are challenging to get out in the open, because I think they are dashing in appearance and their songs always delight me.
Yesterday I had fun and frustration while photographing Yellow Warblers feeding their fledglings up in a Wasatch Mountain canyon, fun because it is always great to see them and frustration because of the setting they were in combined with a breeze.
I'm a little like this sleepy juvenile Burrowing Owl this morning, I overslept, my coffee still hasn't kicked in, I'm yawning frequently and I am still sleepy.
A few weeks ago while up in the Wasatch Mountains I watched and photographed a Chipping Sparrow that was busy collecting nesting materials.
I pulled over to the left side of the road after I passed the bush and the bird and I succeeded in getting the Cedar Waxwing in fairly good light with a cloudy sky background.
I'm wondering now if Great Blue Herons here in Utah might already be adapting to climate change by moving higher up into the mountain valleys and canyons that have suitable food and water supplies to breed and nest.
Yesterday I planned to stay home to try to get caught up on the many things that are on my plate and to stay out of the heat but unbeknownst to me that plan was going to change at 6:31 in the morning and that I would soon be on a rescue mission.
I'm going to keep trying to obtain better photos of the Gray Catbirds with the Black Twinberry berries and perhaps before long the catbirds will bring their young to feast on these berries too!
Knowing that this is a favorite perch has given me opportunities I might have missed if I hadn't been paying attention to the behavior of this tiny Broad-tailed Hummingbird since their arrival this spring.
I haven't photographed Mule Deer in a while so when I saw a pair of them in willows next to a creek last week I felt I had to take their photos, especially because of all the lush greenery that surrounded them.
Gray Catbirds aren't flashy and except for the spot of cinnamon colored feathers under their tails they are mostly an overall gray with a black cap. While their appearance isn't dazzling the variety of songs they sing certainly can be.
Spending time photographing Yellow Warblers can try the patience of even the most patient photographer because they are so flighty, small and move quickly but it can also be rewarding when you get photos that you like.
The sack of crap was open, it doesn't matter to me if they left it open or if a critter opened it but that sack of crap was what was attracting the Northern Rough-winged Swallows and photos of these birds with dog waste shouldn't exist, yet now they do.
Luck was on my side when I found the family of Mountain Bluebirds in good light plus they were close enough to take quality photos of them, first the male then the female and the juveniles.
Even though this adult Cedar Waxwing is small in the frame because I photographed it from quite a distance it is one of my favorite images taken in the Wasatch Mountains four days ago.
While these Barn Swallow photos aren't million dollar shots the experiences I shared with my mother while we photographed this bird together are worth everything to me.
I love seeing the Aspen eyes of the forest upon me and I find myself happy to photograph them whenever I can.
Showy Milkweeds are an important source of nectar for butterflies, especially Monarch Butterflies who not only use them as a nectar source but also use them for laying their eggs on and as a larval host.
I see and photograph Short-eared Owls in Sagebrush Country quite often. I spend a lot of time in areas where there is sagebrush dotting the desert, steppes and hillsides here in Utah and I find these amazing owls there.
I've been photographing nesting Cedar Waxwings and I have to say that it tests my skills and is a true challenge because of the light, how quickly these birds move and the cluttered habitat.