Winter California Gull at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge
Ring-billed and California Gulls are the typical gulls I find in Utah so it wasn't much of a surprise to find this California Gull at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
Ring-billed and California Gulls are the typical gulls I find in Utah so it wasn't much of a surprise to find this California Gull at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
It is interesting to see this whirlpool effect of Northern Shovelers on the surface of the Great Salt Lake and to hear the sounds of their bills dabbling in the water.
This Dunlin was just about finished molting into its breeding plumage and would have soon been on its way to the Arctic and sub-Arctic tundra to breed and raise its young.
The first bird I raised my lens for yesterday was this Black-billed Magpie in a snowstorm near the visitor center.
This Willet in golden light was photographed at Fort De Soto County Park in April of 2008 and is one of my favorite Willet images taken in Florida.
Yesterday I was able to photograph juvenile and adult White-crowned Sparrows on the same branch a few minutes apart at a gate at Farmington Bay WMA.
I only have a few portraits of an adult Black-billed Magpie and yesterday I was able to add several of them to my portfolio.
It felt wonderful to spend time with this Bear River MBR American Barn Owl yesterday while the sun was shining on the refuge.
This image of a solitary Snowy Egret in low light is simple but I find the simplicity of it appealing.
Male American Kestrels look for and locate potential nesting cavities within their territories and inspect them prior to the nesting season.
I spent a little bit of time yesterday morning photographing a few birds including this Northern Harrier in flight over Farmington Bay WMA.
It was the first of the winter Burrowing Owls I was to find yesterday while on Antelope Island State Park.
I was delighted to photograph a female Red-winged Blackbird at White Rock Bay as she perched a dead greasewood branch.
Among those spring migrants that I most look forward to seeing are the Western Burrowing Owls.
A couple Woodhouse's Scrub-Jays in Ophir Canyon Road in Tooele County were the most cooperative of the jays that I found.
Western Wood-Pewees are drab, medium-sized, flycatchers that breed in the open forests and riparian habitats in western North America.
These Little Blue Herons on the hunt were both taken at Fort De Soto in two different tidal lagoons.
This adult Sage Thrasher with prey was photographed on public lands in Tooele County in one of the canyons of the Stansbury Mountains last July.
I photographed this adult Bald Eagle at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge early on New Year's Day when the light of dawn was still golden.
On January 1st I spotted this resting Barn Owl on some hay bales not too far from the juvenile Red-tailed Hawk at the hot spring.
Most of the images I took that day on Antelope Island State Park had flocks of European Starlings and an American Bison or two in them.
When I photographed this Turkey Vulture in Box Elder County last summer it flew from the post it had been perched on and landed a bit further away where it quickly began cleaning its bill
I can recall vividly the morning I photographed this Roseate Spoonbill in a lagoon with a young mangrove by its legs at Fort De Soto County Park.
I photographed this Ring-billed Gull in flight at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge on New Year's Day on the west side of the auto tour loop.
This Barn Owl seems to be flying straight into the New Year and that is what I am doing. Spreading my wings and facing what comes at me head on.
It isn't often that I am able to take a Black-billed Magpie portrait so when a magpie flies in close enough to me I will jump at the opportunity.
When the Bald Eagle lifted off I could see the prey in its talons but it wasn't until I viewed the image on my screen at home that I could tell that the prey was most likely an Eared Grebe because of the lobed feet.
Over the past week I have been able to photograph several Ring-billed Gulls in flight in varying light and like the way they turned out.
The first great opportunity I had with them this year was this male Rough-legged Hawk perched on a stump at Bear River National Wildlife Refuge in Box Elder County.
I had a great time photographing a Western Meadowlark in snow yesterday on Antelope Island State Park near the White Rock Bay campgrounds.