Birds that I find in the field, photograph and share the stories behind the images.
A few days ago a Western Grebe popped up from under the water very close to me and I was able to take a quick series of portraits of it before it moved away.
In my post yesterday I mentioned that the Snowy Egrets that I photographed at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge were avoiding a juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron, this is that heron.
There was lots of bird activity yesterday at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and a flurry of Snowy Egrets kept things interesting early in the morning.
It isn't often that I can capture images of Muskrats out of the water so I was delighted to spot this one a few days ago at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
Yesterday I spent the morning in Box Elder County driving along the Promontory Mountain Range and Red-tailed Hawks were the most numerous raptors I saw.
I created this juvenile Swainson's Hawk image two days ago before the sun rose over the mountains and I liked how it turned out despite the low light.
If the Bear River is dammed upstream I have to wonder if we will see history repeating itself but made even worse by climate change, reduced snow pack and rising temperatures and how that will impact the refuge.
The Sandhill Crane colts at Farmington Bay are as tall as their parents and look just like them except for the markings on their head and the color of their bills and eyes.
The past few times I have gone to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I have seen Marbled Godwits flying over and I know that their migration to their wintering grounds has begun.
After a rainy summer day there were puddles on the dirt roads of Antelope Island State Park and this juvenile Loggerhead Shrike took advantage of a puddle and bathed.
The young Burrowing Owls I have been following and photographing are growing up but many of them still stay close to the burrows they hatched in.
I am seeing more and more Wilson's Phalaropes at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and the majority of the birds I see are hatch year birds.
This coming Saturday, August 8, 2015, is the date 0f the annual Spider Festival on Antelope Island State Park and there should be plenty of spiders to be seen, almost a bumper crop of them!
I was in far northern Utah yesterday and saw the hawks I expected to see but finding this Great Horned Owl was a bit of a surprise since I wasn't looking for Great Horned Owls.
So even though I didn't come home with many Burrowing Owls images yesterday these Western Kingbird images more than made up for it!
I don't often have the opportunity to photograph young Lark Sparrows so I jumped at the chance last Saturday when I saw this one on Antelope Island State Park.
You might wonder why I think it is tough being a bird photographer when it comes to Burrowing Owls.
Yesterday I posted a juvenile Wilson's Phalarope and today I am posting an assortment of others birds I photographed the same day at Bear River NWR.
Bear River National Wildlife Refuge was lovely yesterday morning and one of the nice surprises I found was this juvenile Wilson's Phalarope on the west side of the auto tour route.
It has been a few years since I have seen Short-eared Owls with any regularity and I really miss seeing these beautiful owls.
Every once in a while I find myself attracted to an image not just because of the subject but also because of reflections and this American White Pelican image is one of those.
I went wandering in the West Desert of Utah yesterday because the views are always great and because I hoped to find a few birds.
I think I could photograph juvenile Burrowing Owls for two months straight and not get bored with them.
I headed up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge yesterday morning and I am very glad I did because of the wonderful birds I saw.
I processed an older image of a juvenile Sandwich Tern in flight from my Florida archives to post this morning.
Antelope Island State Park is full of juvenile Loggerhead Shrikes right now so it looks like the shrikes had a very successful nesting season.
I might need to go wandering up the canyons and Sky Line Drive soon just to see what birds and creatures I can find.
I photographed this adult Bald Eagle as it perched on ice covering the Great Salt Lake in early morning light in January 2012.
Leopards don't change their spots but juvenile Burrowing Owls do change their spots on their chests as they mature.
Burrowing Owls and American Robins are about the same size but they are two very different species of birds.