In Florida it was not uncommon for me to see Brown Pelicans gliding just barely above the surface of the Gulf of Mexico like the juvenile shown in my image.
After seeing few Chukars on Antelope Island State Park over the winter it is a delight to see them perching on rocks, preening, calling and warming up in the first rays of sunlight on the island again.
I feel that as a bird photographer I need to care for my subjects every time I am in the field and that is amplified when there are young, defenseless chicks.
Preening in birds is essential for keeping their feathers clean, arranged correctly and for some birds it is a way to distribute oils from the uropygial gland which helps to keep the feathers clean and healthy.
Last year about this time I wrote a post complaining about Loggerhead Shrikes being MIA but this year I don't have that complaint because I am seeing and hearing these "Butcherbirds" on Antelope Island.
Long-billed Curlews have begun to leave or have left their wintering grounds and should be winging their way to Utah and arriving here any day now.
Laughing Gulls are commonly seen at Fort De Soto County Park but novices to birding and bird watching might think they are three different kinds of gulls depending on their age and plumage.
As Spring Approaches it is a Great Time to be a Bird Photographer in Utah!
According to Birds of North America there are four foraging methods used by Red-breasted Mergansers which are Cooperative Herding, Individual Search, Shallow Diving and Deep Diving.
Officially it isn't spring yet but the Canada Geese here in the Salt Lake Valley don't seem to be paying much attention to our human calendars at all and have begun their mating season.
I especially like the combination of old wood and owls, in this photo a juvenile Great Horned Owl is perched on an external structural beam of an old granary in Glacier County, Montana.
As soon as I crossed the north beach footbridge I spotted several Roseate Spoonbills in the tidal lagoon on my right. There were adults and a few juveniles, some were resting while others preened.
The last time I went to Antelope Island State Park I noticed that the Chukars were more visible than they have been for awhile and I also noticed a tiny wildflower called Redstem Filaree starting to green up.
The recent arrival of American White Pelicans to the Salt Lake Valley started me thinking about the differences between Brown Pelicans and American White Pelicans.
In the four and a half years I have been in Utah I have found, pointed out, and photographed four escaped falconry birds, one in 2009, and two in 2012.
This is one of my favorite Reddish Egret images that I have taken at Fort De Soto County Park's north beach.
One of two species of oystercatchers in North America the American Oystercatchers quickly stole my heart after I first saw them because of their colors, long bills, pink legs and their Goth-like black toenails.
Many beginning photographers dream of taking images in far off places of exotic birds and there is nothing wrong with that. But we shouldn’t overlook the advantages of photographing birds close to home.
The snow has melted in the Salt Lake Valley where temps have been unseasonably warm thanks to the "Pineapple Express" and although winter hasn't left it has begun to feel like spring which means it won't be long before spring has sprung up all over Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge!
Shorebirds like this tiny Snowy Plover on a sugar sand beach were my "spark" birds when it comes to my bird photography and they are what made my passion for bird photography catch fire.
Two years ago I could often find Northern Harriers hunting along the causeway to Antelope Island State Park and I photographed a series of images of this female Northern Harrier on February 16th of that year.
It won't be long before the American White Pelicans are back at Bear River National Wildlife Refuge which is where I photographed the pelican in the image above last spring.
I thought posting an adult Burrowing Owl in flight taken during the summer of 2011 on Antelope Island might help to brighten my spirits as I dream of the sun again.
The sun came out for a few hours yesterday afternoon so I went to a pond near where I live and photographed some of the ducks including this very confiding Redhead drake.
The bad weather here has given me cabin fever so last night I looked through my archives and enjoyed some images from brighter, warmer days and came across this juvenile Red-naped Sapsucker image from my first camping trip to Utah's high Uintas in Summit County.
The opposite of cold, gray, windy and rainy is summertime in my mind so I thought that today I would post some thing from a warmer, brighter and calmer day and what could be more summery than a Black-chinned Hummingbird feeding on Rocky Mountain Bee Plant?
My 1000th post was long and contained many images so for my 1001st post I am keeping it simple with a Snowy Egret resting near the mangroves of the north beach at Fort De Soto.
Today I reached the 1000 posts mark for my blog here at On The Wing Photography. In those 1000 posts I've covered a lot of birds, animals and locations.
Just a simple Red-tailed Hawk in flight image that I took early last week in Cedar Valley on a bright, clear day.
This Osprey flying in from the Gulf over the north beach of Fort De Soto came as a surprise to us so I had little time to prepare and get my setting right due to how fast the Osprey was flying.