Barn Owls are gorgeous with their dark as ebony eyes, beautiful plumage and graceful flight so I find it difficult to suppress my delight when I see them on the wing.
In February of 2011 there was a first year Bald Eagle at Farmington Bay WMA that seemed totally unafraid and unconcerned about the people near it.
This year has been zipping by so quickly and it is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is already here and I really have so much to be grateful for.
The golden reflections with just a hint of blue compliment the golden tones of the plumage of the Pied-billed Grebe.
I know a lot of people don't like European Starlings because they are in introduced species that cause lots of problems for native birds.
I have started seeing Rough-legged Hawks again in northern Utah and that has me excited. I have seen them in Utah County and Davis County but I haven't gotten any quality photos of them yet
I could not resist photographing the young Red-tailed Hawk though as it lifted off and flew in front of me after prey even though conditions were not ideal.
House Finches are fairly common birds throughout the U.S. Mexico and into Central America but they didn't used to be common in the eastern U.S.
This Greater Scaup drake is making the transition into his breeding plumage and was in among American Coots, a resting female scaup, Pied-Billed Grebes and a single Canvasback.
Personally, I love to see American Robins any time of the year and to watch them searching for prey. Common? Yes, but delightful too.
Last December I photographed this Great Blue Heron as it hunkered down against the brutal cold at the edge of the water in a marsh.
American Coots are common birds and some folks might find them fairly plain but I like them and enjoy photographing them too.
In February of 2011 I wrote about the age progression of Bald Eagles along with images to illustrate the ages, today I am doing the same but with Ring-billed Gulls.
I write about the raptors I expect to see during the winter in Utah but there are also song birds I keep an eye out for too like this immature Northern Shrike.
Northern Harriers are year round residents in Utah and I am encouraged by the numbers of them I have seen lately at Farmington Bay WMA.
Words will never fully be enough when I think about the sacrifices our Veterans have made for our country.
Today there are great big clouds with small patches of blue sky but two years ago it was very different, we were having a blizzard.
It was nice to get out yesterday morning and photograph a few birds including this juvenile White-crowned Sparrow perched on a wild rose.
I have always thought of Marbled Godwits as graceful, elegant shorebirds and I still do.
When I lived in Virginia I could almost predict when the first snow would fall because the juncos showed at my feeders up a day or two before the first winter storm.
I was delighted to spot this male Downy Woodpecker in the willows the last time I went out to Farmington Bay Bird Refuge.
Shorebirds are still migrating through the Salt Lake Valley and Farmington Bay WMA and there have been quite a few Greater Yellowlegs in the area.
Wilderness brings me peace, hope and the desire to immerse myself into it as much as I possibly can.
I saw a fleeting glimpse of a bird a few days ago that I suspect was a Merlin that migrated to winter here in Utah and it inspired me to post a few Merlin images today.
I have been seeing plenty of blackbirds lately at Farmington Bay WMA and a few days ago I photographed this preening Brewer's Blackbird on a fence post.
Lately it has been wonderful to see and photograph more birds including raptors. I think the long dry spell that started the end of July might be over finally.
I'm seeing more and more Pied-billed Grebes and that excites me because these little guys might be small but they are tough. They kind of remind me of myself.
Even though the American Goldfinches are in their non-breeding plumage now I still think of them as gold.
This morning I wanted to keep my post simple and how much more simple could this image of a Semipalmated Plover with its eye on me be?
Last month I was able to photograph this Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay on my way up to Cascade Springs in Wasatch County, Utah as it perched on an oak near the road.