While I would have enjoyed having this male American Kestrel closer to me as it turned in flight than it was yesterday morning I found that I liked this frame with the tiny falcon turning in flight being small in the frame too.
Yesterday I photographed a small covey of California Quail, this the second time this month that I have seen and photographed these small upland game birds that have wiggly, little head plumes.
The more I have looked at this image over the past year the more I liked it for the flight pose, the look at the Red-tailed Hawk's plumage colors against those yellow leaves and somehow the poor lighting conditions became less significant to my eyes.
So it wasn't a great morning but it wasn't all that bad either because I was able to focus on a Short-eared Owl, Brewer's Blackbirds and one curious Long-tailed Weasel.
Personally I am fascinated by European Starling murmurations, their interesting, beautiful plumage and how they can mimic the calls and songs of other birds.
With cold fronts moving in it is indeed time for me to keep an eye on the sky for flocks of Tundra Swans migrating back into northern Utah
A male Brewer's Blackbird had been preening on a fence post when he started to shake his feathers and that action sure showed his iridescent plumage off nicely.
A few weeks ago I observed and photographed an immature female Northern Harrier repeatedly harassing a Ring-necked Pheasant hen out on the marshes at Farmington Bay.
Two days ago I found two California Quail hens perched low in a tree in Davis County, Utah and I was delighted that one of them was out in the open in nice light.
The Brewer's Blackbird seemed to be really throwing himself into his bath as he splashed around, dipping his head into the water then shaking his entire body as his head rose above the water.
The first time I remember seeing Cattle Egrets I was a child who had just moved to interior Florida, I think I was in the second grade at the time or about 7 to 8 years old and these white birds that followed cattle around seemed so fascinating and exotic to me.
The unusually colored feathers of this Great Blue Heron that I photographed on September 24th of this year caught my eyes because it has some white feathers in its crown where normally all the feathers are dark black.
American Pipits aren't flashy birds, in fact some people might think they are rather plain or dull colored. I am always happy to have them in my viewfinder and to hear their flight calls in the breeze.
I like gulls, I like the way they look, I like the way they fly, I like the way they try to steal food from each other and other birds, I like the challenges of photographing them and I really like how scrappy they are.
Bird photographers, birders, nature watchers and citizen scientists can help out by reporting all banded birds including our Gunnison Island American White Pelicans.
Four days ago I was able to photograph a Snowy Egret landing sequence that I liked because of the action of the bird, the setting and the lovely lighting I had at the time.
It has been a while since I photographed Snowy Egrets so having them in my viewfinder yesterday morning was a real treat especially since they will be migrating soon and I will go the winter without seeing them.
I've been spotting more and more Yellow-rumped Warblers over the past 10 to 14 days and I am excited because I have been expecting them to start showing up in my viewfinder.
Last year I found plenty of Monarch Butterflies on the Rocky Mountain Bee Plants on Antelope Island and they were a delight to photograph as they fluttered around going from flower to flower sipping nectar from the delicate blossoms.
Red-necked and Wilson's Phalaropes have started their fall migration and one of the places where they gather in large numbers is the Great Salt Lake where they show up in the tens of thousands to feed and rest before continuing their journey.
Two days ago at Glover Pond there were several Eight-spotted Skimmer dragonflies that I aimed my lens at and of those I liked this head on shot the most.
Brine flies that live in the Great Salt Lake are an important food source for California Gulls and watching the gulls feed on the flies is fascinating as they use several techniques to catch them.
Every year in August Antelope Island has a SpiderFest where there are walks and talks about the spiders of that live on the island, I love photographing them and they really aren't so creepy as they seem to be.
Even though the light yesterday morning wasn't optimal for bird photography I took my Mom to the Farmington Bay WMA area to show her around there, we only made it as far as Glover Pond though.
Vesper Sparrows aren't bright or colorful birds but I find their appearance subtly beautiful in a quiet kind of way and their songs are always a delight to hear in the morning or late afternoon.
Barn Swallows are like tiny, feathered brick masons. One pellet by itself is nothing but combined pellets form the nests these birds use to raise their young in.
When it comes to small birds like Yellow-rumped Warblers I prefer photographing them in clean habitats over cluttered habitats because the small birds stand out better when the background isn't so messy.
The Loggerhead Shrike did fly in and brought prey to feed the presumed female, during the mating season the males will allofeed the females as part of their courtship behavior. I've never been able to photograph allofeeding behavior before so I was tickled pink.
I did see a Western Kingbird two days ago but the only photos I have of that bird were taken on a barbed wire fence and I have more of those type of images than I know what to do with and nothing about those images were appealing, unique or all that interesting.
When I lived in Florida I saw Snowy Egrets year round and that kind of spoiled me but here in Utah they leave for the winter and come back to the marshes and wetlands surrounding the Great Salt Lake for their breeding season.