Birds that I find in the field, photograph and share the stories behind the images.
All in all, as 2018 comes to a close I realize how fortunate I am to see all the birds that I do throughout the year as a bird photographer, to be able to do what I love and to love my feathered subjects too.
At home when I could see the photos I had taken on a much larger screen I nearly choked on my laughter when I saw this image of the coot vigorously shaking its food
Snow and clouds are in the forecast for today and I have decided that today is the day for me to migrate On The Wing Photography over to the new server that I mentioned a while back.
I really did get a Christmas Goose yesterday when I spotted my first of winter Snow Goose that was resting on a boulder near the banks of the Jordan River yesterday.
I'm happy that I was able to photograph birds on Christmas Eve in decent light and that somehow to me this is more than "just" a goose, it is a Christmas Goose and who am I to look a gift goose in the bill?
After looking through all of those images I decided to share a photo today of an immature Rough-legged Hawk perched on a waterfowl rest area sign taken at Farmington Bay WMA on Christmas Eve day in 2013.
I got lucky when a first winter drake Common Goldeneye flew towards me while coming in for a landing on the pond in sweet late afternoon light.
I really can't pin down why I like this mallard photo and honestly I don't feel a need to figure out why I do. I simply do.
I recently became aware that there were ads at the bottom of the email that was automatically sent out to you all when I published my blog post this morning.
I'm glad I had a few seconds to photograph this Great-tailed Grackle up close in the warm afternoon light before it was flushed and flew away.
The light was best when the geese flew in front of the snow-covered Wasatch Mountains which is when I photographed this flying Canada Goose with its wings above its body.
This adult male Short-eared Owl was perched on a weathered fence post not far from the road when I photographed it rousing and I loved the way it seemed to be looking right as me as it shook its feathers.
Four days ago I was able to take close up photos of a handsome male California Quail in beautiful light while he perched on a fence rail as he looked directly towards me.
I was able to photograph two Ferruginous Hawks yesterday morning in the West Desert in Tooele County. The light was good, I had birds in my viewfinder and I was away from our building inversion so I was one happy woman.
These two Song Sparrow photos are a reminder to me that sometimes having man made objects in my photos isn't such a bad thing, it is just a matter of personal tastes.
One male California Quail turned his head and through my viewfinder I could see him yawning and this was the only photo I got of him where I could see his entire face and eyes at a good angle.
I'm just posting this sweet, little Yellow Warbler this morning because I have been missing our summer birds. I have been missing all birds actually because it seems like forever since I have been out into the field.
I like this image because I was able to capture the eye of this diving first winter drake Common Goldeneye just as it is about to go below the surface of the pond but I also like what is going on with the water in this frame too.
One photo that made me laugh as soon as I saw it on my camera's LCD screen, a peek-a-boo Canada Goose peering at me through its wing tips as it came in to land on the pond.
Then the noise suddenly stopped and I saw the silhouette of a European Starling fly out of the tree with the Cooper's Hawk hot on its tail, literally.
I took this photo two winters ago on the local pond and I liked it because even though the view of the drake Common Merganser was taken of its back the merganser turned his head and gave me a great view of his eye.
I'm not sure how this Ring-bill Gull got the snow on its bill but when I looked through my viewfinder I liked all of fine details I had in the snow, the bill and the white plumage of the gull and I felt I had to take photos of it.
One year ago today I photographed this adult White-crowned Sparrow perched in a red branched bush at the gate to Farmington Bay WMA.
The only image I liked of the few I took yesterday afternoon was of this resting, feral domestic Mallard that appeared to be keeping an eye on me while it floated next to the shoreline of the pond.
This photo of a resting Great Blue Heron with American Coots was taken yesterday afternoon when the sun was shining on the same shoreline of my local pond as one of the photos I shared here on my blog yesterday.
Neither of these images will knock anyone's socks off but for me they show these coots and geese in the snow storm and the harsh conditions they live in, just birds being birds.
One of the birds I took images of that afternoon was an immature Double-crested Cormorant that flew past me in that golden light just barely above the surface of the pond.
Some of the Tundra Swan photos I took that day in near white out conditions were flat and unappealing to my eyes but some of them I really liked because of the white bird on white snow.
During the winter I have opportunities to photograph California Gulls in flight in snow storms in low light and while images like this one aren't appealing to everyone's tastes I like them a lot.
It isn't often that I am able to be close enough to a Northern Harrier to take a portrait of one, in fact I can only think of one time that I've been that fortunate and that was in May of 2016.