Birds that I find in the field, photograph and share the stories behind the images.
I eagerly anticipate the birds that arrive with spring including an early spring Western Grebe who will soon be courting and rushing at the refuge.
After they burn the phragmites it doesn't take long for life to go back to normal for some of the birds like this Killdeer in a burned area.
Both of these Chukars above the Great Salt Lake were photographed on the east side of Antelope Island State Park this month.
These images of a Great Blue Heron at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge were taken last September on the auto tour route at the refuge.
This West Desert Horned Lark in golden light was taken in the foothills of the Stansbury Mountains of Tooele County on a clear morning last month.
I was able to photograph this Peregrine Falcon in flight in front of a brightly colored sandstone cliff face with the light of the setting sun on it. I was delighted.
Yesterday I found this Western Meadowlark take off photo that I took last year on Antelope Island State Park.
Last September I was able to observe and photograph a Merlin in southwestern Montana over a period of several days.
Last year I had the pleasure of photographing this nonbreeding Sora in the Centennial Valley of Montana.
Last year in mid August I photographed a very cooperative juvenile Barn Swallow at Bear River MBR and realized I hadn't posted any images of the bird or written about my encounter with it.
Turkey Vultures are Nature's clean up crew. They consume road kill and other dead animals and and in doing so they clean up the messy stuff.
I photographed this immature Black-billed Magpie in flight last September on Antelope Island State Park as it flew over a rabbitbrush that was just about to bloom.
I feel fortunate that I am able to see and photograph both the Western and Eastern Kingbird juveniles here in northern Utah.
These two Loggerhead Shrike juveniles on a log were photographed last August on Antelope Island and were probably from a second brood.
I was photographing a pair of cranes foraging on the ground when a pair of Sandhill Cranes calling in flight flew over and I took a series of images of them.
I didn't get to see Greater Sage Grouse on my recent trip to southern Utah but I did get a few brief looks at another sagebrush obligate when a single Sage Thrasher popped up into view.
I was able to get a few images of a Golden Eagle yesterday morning as it perched on some huge, ancient boulders in early morning light.
My life is great whenever I can photograph a pair of Sandhill Cranes wherever I find them and yesterday I had these beauties in my viewfinder.
This pose made me think "The Long-billed Curlew Scores" but he was really just exhibiting a territorial response to another curlew that was nearby
A short trip to look for Greater Sage-Grouse, White-tailed Prairie Dogs and the other birds and animals that call the sagebrush steppe their home.
It has been a while since I photographed this Short-eared Owl in Tooele County at the James W. Fitzgerald WMA
Both of these Loggerhead Shrikes were photographed on Antelope Island State Park, both of them are adults, both were photographed when the sky was clear and both were perched on a dead twig of a greasewood but they were also photographed with different backgrounds, different times of the morning and different light.
The males will start singing before too long and the Marsh Wren nesting season in Utah will begin.
Watching and photographing the Tundra Swans lifting off from Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge yesterday was slightly bittersweet for me because I know they will soon be heading north to mate.
Seeing these uncommon Western Bluebirds in Tooele County in the Stansbury Mountain Range yesterday is part of why I love bird photography so much.
Yesterday I had my first opportunity to photograph a nearby female Belted Kingfisher in Salt Lake County, Utah and I had fun getting to know her.
I had forgotten about photographing this Barn Swallow in a fog at the Lower Lake of Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge until I was going through my archives yesterday.
Seeing and photographing this Red-breasted Nuthatch was such a thrill for me that I want a repeat performance!
I took this image of the Piping Plover on a shell covered beach right after the sun came up when the light had that sweet golden tone to it
I was able to take this male Brewer's Blackbird portrait as it perched next to the road that shows the iridescent colors in his plumage quite nicely.