Yesterday I spent time photographing a cooperative yet unexpected Barn Owl at Farmington Bay, unexpected simply because Barn Owl are primarily nocturnal and I saw it during the day.
To the untrained eye American Bitterns and Black-crowned Night Herons can be confused so I thought I'd visually compare the two species with other keys to aid in their identification.
American Coots have interesting behaviors that I like to try to capture, for instance the way they run across the surface of the water during territorial chases.
I didn't think I'd like this photo of a perched Red-tailed Hawk under gray, blustery skies but I do
Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge hosts up to 13,000 Tundra Swans during November through December where they utilize the freshwater wetland habitats on the refuge.
This American Goldfinch feeding upside down on seeds over the snow-covered field has always made me chuckle a bit because of the pose of the finch.
Last winter I photographed adult and juvenile White-crowned Sparrows in the snow in low light conditions and was pleased with the resulting photos.
Two days ago when I found this Great Blue Heron resting in the goose nest I knew I had to photograph it because of the autumn colors in the background.
American Pipits are migrating through Utah in large numbers right now and yesterday morning at Farmington Bay they seemed to be everywhere!
I was especially pleased when I found this Bananaquit perched on a colorful Bougainvillea in decent light for a few frames.
If you would like to follow some of the American White Pelicans from Utah on migration a few of them have been fitted with solar-powered GPS transmitter backpacks and the PeliTrack map shows their locations.
This is National Wildlife Refuge Week and in celebration I wanted to do a pictorial essay that includes some of my images of the Birds of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
I was able to lock on to the Herring Gull in flight with a sea urchin in its bill when it was close enough to me to fill the frame, it was almost too close at that point.
The Great Egret struggled to swallow the large fish and even though it readjusted the fish in its bill several times it never swallowed the fish before it dropped it into the lagoon and flew off.
Yesterday I was able to photograph a few White-crowned Sparrow adults feeding on seeds of rabbitbrush and greasewood on Antelope Island State Park.
It might be a long drive in the wee hours of the morning to get to where these Burrowing Owls are in northern Utah during the breeding season but they are worth it
This photo shows the sub-adult Red-tailed Hawk in flight in the glow of the evening light just a split second after it had lifted off from a perch further away.
This beautiful Northern Shoveler drake in breeding plumage was photographed in one of those no hunting areas on New Years Day 2015 at Farmington Bay.
I like that Esther the Eaglet is written with children in mind and that it might inspire the children who read it to become rehabilitators, biologists, ornithologists, nature lovers, birders, environmentalists or even bird photographers like myself.
I'll be out photographing birds like this Willet foraging in the Gulf of Mexico, other wildlife and the beauty of nature.
There were Snowy Egrets, juvenile Black-crowned Night Herons, Great Blue Herons and this White-faced-Ibis foraging at Farmington Bay to photograph.
I enjoyed seeing the Red-tailed Hawks yesterday and observing their nesting maintenance behavior in the Fall, I don't see it very often so it makes it special to me.
Mid-morning I found a perched intermediate morph Swainson's Hawk in Box Elder County and was delighted when it didn't fly off immediately.
Even though I am saying a fond farewell to the Swainson's Hawks I'm also looking forward to Rough-legged Hawks gracing my life for another season.
It was wonderful to be close to the juvenile Brown Pelican and to be able to take portraits of it plus I also enjoyed being able to see all the fine details of its plumage, the texture of its bill and look into its dark eyes.
I've always loved this image of a Forster's Tern in flight because the pose is wonderful and the tern looks elegant against the gray of a distant storm cloud.
Almost a year ago I felt very fortunate to be able to take a series of Snowy Egret portraits at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area in Northern Utah.
When I found this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk on a lichen covered boulder in Idaho I took a little over 160 frames of it.
I photographed these two Red-tailed Hawks near old route 91 in Idaho which runs close to Interstate 15, part of the road is still paved and part of it is gravel.
I spent some time in the Centennial Valley of Montana yesterday and the best bird I spotted was this adult Prairie Falcon photographed on a cattle chute with a white cloud in the background.