Focusing On A Greater Yellowlegs With A Small Fish
I'd watched the Greater Yellowlegs foraging and most of the time the prey was too tiny to see but this little fish was a nice catch for the shorebird and for me.
I'd watched the Greater Yellowlegs foraging and most of the time the prey was too tiny to see but this little fish was a nice catch for the shorebird and for me.
I photographed this young male Red-winged Blackbird singing at the top of a Russian olive tree at Farmington Bay WMA nine days ago.
Whatever the gender, I was delighted that the Myrtle Yellow-rumped Warbler perched in the tree long enough for me to take a nice series of images of it.
Usually when I see and photograph Savannah Sparrows they are on barbed wire, fence posts, railings or on the ground so seeing a Savannah on rocks was a nice change for me.
The Long-tailed Weasel stood up, looked around and then made a mad dash back to the west side of the road before I lost sight of it in the vegetation.
When I photographed this immature Yellow-rumped Warbler two days ago I couldn't tell what prey it had snagged so I was surprised when I got home and saw that the warbler had snatched a damselfly.
Yesterday morning I was able to take close up images of a male Brewer's Blackbird in the kind of light that showed all of its beautiful iridescent colors with the silky blue water of a pond in the background.
Here in northern Utah it isn't often that Myrtle and Audubon's Yellow-rumped Warblers are found perched in the same tree but four days ago that is what happened to me.
Our Clark's and Western Grebes will be leaving here soon and except for a few downy feathers on this one's forehead it looks like it is ready to take on its first migration.
Yesterday I photographed a muskrat I found eating green filamentous algae at Farmington Bay WMA which I thought was interesting because I had never seen one eating algae before.
I haven't had any California Quail in my viewfinder since last December so a when I had the chance to photograph a male at Farmington Bay WMA nine days ago I was happy.
Autumn is a time when the seeds of many plants that the Red-winged Blackbirds feed upon have ripened and the birds are taking full advantage of the season's bounty and spend a large part of their days foraging.
When autumn arrives White-crowned Sparrows are one of the sparrow species that I look forward to photographing at Farmington Bay WMA each year as they move down to lower elevations.
Until three days ago I really haven't taken any decent images of Lesser Goldfinches that weren't at bird feeders but that changed when this one landed on a greasewood in front of me at Farmington Bay WMA.
This morning is cloudy and gray but seven years ago today it was bright, the air was crisp and the fall colors of the Front Range of the Wasatch Mountains were in their full glory.
Just a simple post today of the colorful insides of a Ring-billed Gull's bill that I photographed yesterday morning at Farmington Bay WMA as it yawned.
Marsh Wrens are year round residents here in northern Utah and this week I've photographed them in the marshes of both Farmington Bay WMA and Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
These nine Snowy Egret photos are just a fraction of the images I took of a small flock of these snowy, white birds with golden slippers yesterday morning on the marshes of Farmington Bay WMA.
I took this White-faced Ibis on the wing over the marsh at Farmington Bay WMA photo last week and at first I thought the bird was too small in the frame but the more I look at it the more I like it.
Not only was this Ring-billed Gull in molt it was molting in a remarkably symmetrical pattern which I found interesting. Because the gull was in flight the symmetry was very visible.
I had fun testing my skills by photographing several immature Forster's Terns that were hunting for and catching prey at Farmington Bay WMA two days ago.
For a few brief moments yesterday morning I had a lovely Yellow-rumped Warbler in my viewfinder at Farmington Bay that had perched in a leafy tree and I took full advantage of it being nearby.
The cones of Douglas Firs provide food for birds and mammals and the trees provide shelter and nesting areas too. I've been paying attention to the Douglas Firs we have here for several years because of the birds I know I can find eating the seeds of the trees from their cones.
I live in such a beautiful state and even though birds are my primary focus as subjects the natural world that surrounds me is endlessly fascinating, stunning and I hope I never lose the sense of wonder I feel when I see it.
Ah, Mia, it is just a bird. No, it isn't just a bird. Because California Gulls aren't the only birds at risk of disappearing from the skies, shorelines and waters of Utah.
Even though I am primarily a bird photographer I can't resist photographing other subjects especially if those subjects have wings so when I saw a White-lined Sphinx moth yesterday I simply had to focus on it for a bit.
Mark your calendars because there is a yearly Spider Festival on Antelope Island State Park and this year the festival is being held next Saturday on August 3, 2019.
Okay, so you may be wondering who Luke is? Luke is my youngest grandchild, he is 11, he is in 5th grade and he lives in North Carolina.
It was a pleasure for me to see and photograph a Willet two days ago on Antelope Island State Park and this Willet even started calling which made it even more of a pleasure for me.
Yesterday I was lucky enough to find a male Burrowing Owl whose burrow is in front of a clump of Redstem Filaree that is blooming profusely and for me that was a joy because I had two of my favorite subjects in the same frame.