I photographed this Semipalmated Plover as it foraged along the Gulf of Mexico in Florida in 2008 while I laid flat on the wet sand getting soaked as the waves pushed onto the shore around the sand bar in the distance.
The first time I went to Antelope Island State Park was on July 28, 2008 and among the wonderful things that I saw and photographed that trip were hundreds of American Avocets along the causeway to the island.
Yesterday I photographed two Greater Yellowlegs at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, there was snow on the ground and all around Farmington Bay the snow was falling heavily.
I love the light and the mudflat setting I photographed this Black-bellied Plover in on a warm April morning in Florida several years ago.
In 2008 I spent several months during the summer watching an American Oystercatcher family from the time the chicks were tiny until one of the chicks became independent.
Shorebirds; like this tiny Piping Plover I photographed on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico, are the primary reason I became addicted to bird photography.
Which copyright watermark should I use? The small one that doesn't detract from the Greater Yellowlegs or the larger one that would make it harder for image thieves to use?
I hope that in 100 years Marbled Godwits will still be on this planet and future generations won't know them only from images like mine.
It has been another very long week so I thought I'd post a female Long-billed Curlew because of her very long bill but unlike the way my week went this curlew is graceful, elegant and serene.
I photographed this Snowy Plover one September morning in Florida and it was actually cool that day... for Florida.
This Black-bellied Plover was standing on a dunelet that wasn't much higher than the sand around it that had sparse short grasses which I found appealing.
A while back I did a post on the Least Sandpiper which is the world's smallest sandpiper so I thought I would do a post about North America's smallest plover, the Snowy Plover.
Some days I find myself missing Fort De Soto so much it hurts, the birds I found there and the entire experience of just being there. It is just such an amazing place, how could I not miss it?
So I finally have images of the breeding plumage of this small shorebird that show the spots that gave this bird the name Spotted Sandpiper!
On April 10th I spotted two Mountain Plovers on Antelope Island State Park after reporting it to the UBIRD birding list many birders and bird photographers sped to the island to see these birds which are a rarity in this area.
Five years ago today I headed to the north beach of Fort De Soto County Park despite knowing that there were looming storms off of the coast hanging just off shore over the Gulf of Mexico and I am glad that I did because the light that day on the beach was exquisite.
Piping Plovers are small, sparrow sized shorebirds that are endangered and threatened in most of their range primarily due to human disturbance on their nesting grounds.
I wanted to share some bird lift off images today so I rounded up a few that showed different styles of lift offs.
I like to include habitat in my images when I am able to do so, especially when the habitat doesn't obstruct the view of my subject or when the habitat helps to define a sense of place.
In early June while in western Montana there was a pair of Wilson's Phalaropes on a small, privately owned pond near a gravel road foraging for prey that I couldn't resist photographing.
It won't be long before I start seeing juvenile Willets that are about the size of the one pictured here.
I've been enjoying seeing Long-billed Curlews for several weeks now in northern Utah. These large shorebirds birds are also called "Candlestick birds" and "Sickle Birds" because of their long bills.
It was a fascinating experience to see and photograph this Coyote locating and eating the egg and I'm tickled to have witnessed the Coyote's egg carrying behavior plus once again I am very glad to have been in the right place at the right time.
Fluffy little chicks are adorable, they make people "ohh" and "aww" and those that hit the ground running not long after hatching are especially appealing to some folks. But they need respect and they need space so we don't endanger them.
There are two subspecies of Willets which Western and Eastern, here in Utah I only see the Western subspecies but in Florida I could see both during the course of a year.
Just a simple Willet image today that I took on Antelope Island State Park earlier this month.
Last week; while fighting off a bloodsucking cloud of no-see-ums, I was able to photograph this male Long-billed Curlew as it flew past me.
Besides, to have gotten any lower than the Semipalmated Plover I would have had to have crawled down the burrow of one of those crabs
It really isn't too hard to spot this Spotted Sandpiper on the seawall, I just thought it was a catchy title. I saw my FOY (first of year) Spotted Sandpiper this past week and that got me excited.
I wanted to share a sampler of bird images that I have taken over the past week in Davis and Box Elder Counties.