Swainson’s Hawk Pooping While Perched on a Fence Post
So what better image to end my week of published posts with than a Swainson's Hawk pooping while perched on a fence post in northern Utah? I can't think of one.
So what better image to end my week of published posts with than a Swainson's Hawk pooping while perched on a fence post in northern Utah? I can't think of one.
This Clark's Grebe portrait shows the brilliant red eye, the smoothness of the sharp bill and tiny water droplets in the downy plumage of the grebe's face, crown and neck.
The Black-necked Stilt adults seem to be still keeping an eye on their young and that is what this male Black-necked Stilt was doing near the auto tour loop.
Two days ago while on the auto tour loop at Bear River MBR an American White Pelican caught my eyes because of its unusually dark crown, nape, and neck plumage.
The bird I was looking at wasn't a juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron at all, it was an adult American Bittern out in the open!
I liked the crouched position of this Snowy Egret as it was about to strike the prey it was hunting and when it struck it did capture and eat the small fish.
I thought the invisible fence made this roadside Swainson's Hawk in rural Montana an interesting subject to share.
These are a few of the Beaverhead County Red-tailed Hawks that I have photographed while on this trip to Montana and Idaho.
Another change that has officially occurred was that Sandhill Cranes were moved from the genus Grus to Antigone.
The long-awaited Scrub-Jay split has officially happened! Western Scrub-Jay can be crossed out in a our fields guides and the two new names California Scrub-Jay and Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay can be penciled in.
One of the Uinta Ground Squirrels stood up and simply looked around right on the shoulder of the road and I couldn't resist photographing it.
I wanted to share an image of an American White Pelican in summer plumage today because summer is upon us and today marks America's Independence Day.
Last month while looking for owls in northern Utah I found a mated pair of Mourning Doves resting side by side on a barbed wire fence.
Finding Red-naped Sapsuckers feeding chicks at a nesting cavity in the Uintas made my day!
Because I was close I wasn't able to get a single image with all of the ducklings and the hen in the frame so I focused on the Mallard hen and with one duckling resting right behind her.
This Great Blue Heron was in flight over the north beach of Fort De Soto with dark Australian Pines in the background on a foggy morning.
The American Bison dust bath only lasted about one minute, I wish I could shower that fast some mornings!
Last night I spent some time dreaming of oystercatchers. I could hear them in my dream and see them scurrying along the waves.
At times the male Cassin's Finch looked like he was on alert but I can't be sure why, it might have been because of the other finches nearby or that he was keeping an eye out for predators in the sky.
I spent the morning at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge yesterday and one of the birds I photographed the most was this resting Double-crested Cormorant.
One of my favorite things is to see is squadrons of American White Pelicans wheeling in the sky high overhead circling until they are out of sight.
I was trying to photograph flickers, wrens and sapsuckers in the Targhee National Forest of Idaho earlier this month when the American Robin in the photo above appeared and softly called.
I was photographing this adult hoping to get it on lift off and in flight but looked away from my viewfinder to check my exposure exactly at the time it did lift off so I missed the shots.
This Cliff Swallow resting near the Red Rock River was cooperative and gave me the opportunity to photograph it on a strand of barbed wire fencing.
I was able to create several images of this Ferruginous Hawk in flight with nesting materials over a field of sage and lupines despite the low light.
I was very happy to photograph this Uinta Ground Squirrel calling from a lichen covered boulder last week in southwestern Montana.
Seeing this Pronghorn doe with her fawn three mornings ago brought joy to me and photographing the fawn while it nursed and ran around getting the feel of its long legs made me happy.
The male Short-eared Owl in Clark County, Idaho was a beauty even in the poor light.
Mountain Bluebirds and this Centennial Valley Eastern Kingbird were the first two bird species I photographed on this trip to Montana and Idaho.
I liked this image of a Tree Swallow near Modoc Creek because of the eye contact, head turn, colors and the pattern of the conifer needles in the background.