birds

Common Mergansers And Remote Controlled Harassment

By |2024-01-15T05:09:41-07:00January 15th, 2024|Categories: Birds, Common Mergansers, Harassment, Miscellaneous, Salt Lake County, Utah, Wildlife Ethics|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I photographed these Common Mergansers at my local pond three years ago today. I will explain why I only had a few minutes with the mergansers at my local pond.

An Assortment Of Spring Birds From Bear River MBR

By |2021-12-04T04:11:12-07:00April 23rd, 2021|Categories: American White Pelicans, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Clark's Grebes, Double-crested Cormorants, Eared Grebes, Forster's Terns, Gadwalls, Great Blue Herons, Long-billed Curlews, Red-winged Blackbirds, Sandhill Cranes, Utah, Western Grebes, White-faced Ibises, Yellow-headed Blackbirds|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Today I wanted to share an assortment of spring birds all photographed at Bear River MBR yesterday on a bright and beautiful morning.

World Wetlands Day 2021

By |2024-03-13T04:38:39-06:00February 2nd, 2021|Categories: American Bitterns, American Coots, Bald Eagles, Barn Owls, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Black-crowned Night Herons, Blue-winged Teals, Brewer's Blackbirds, Centennial Valley, Cinnamon Teals, Common Checkered-Skippers, Common Mergansers, Conservation, Eight-spotted Skimmers, Environment, Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Greater Scaups, Green-winged Teals, Halloween Pennants, Hooded Mergansers, Least Sandpipers, Lesser Scaups, Long-tailed Weasels, Marsh Wrens, Montana, Moose, Muskrats, Northern Harriers, Northern Pintails, Northern Shovelers, Pectoral Sandpipers, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Red-breasted Mergansers, Red-winged Blackbirds, Reddish Egrets, Redheads, Ruddy Ducks, Rusty Blackbirds, Sandhill Cranes, Scarlet Skimmers, Snowy Egrets, Spotted Sandpipers, Tricolored Herons, Trumpeter Swans, Tundra Swans, Utah, Variegated Meadowhawk, White-faced Ibises, Wildflowers, Wilson's Phalaropes, Yellow-crowned Night Herons, Yellow-headed Blackbirds|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

February 2nd is World Wetlands Day to raise global awareness about the critical role of wetlands for people, wildlife and our planet.

Brown Pelicans And Memories

By |2021-08-07T03:58:20-06:00January 6th, 2021|Categories: Birds, Brown Pelicans, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Eleven years ago this morning I had an amazing time photographing flocks of Brown Pelicans plunge feeding in the Gulf of Mexico.

Looking Back On Photographing A Rare Leucistic Red-tailed Hawk

By |2023-05-05T10:10:15-06:00November 16th, 2020|Categories: Birds, Leucistic, Rarities, Red-tailed Hawks, Tooele County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Even though it is now four years later I still look for this striking leucistic Red-tailed Hawk in Tooele County and hope to find and photograph it again one day.

Portrait Of A First Spring Male Northern Harrier In Northern Utah

By |2021-04-10T07:31:43-06:00November 28th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Northern Harriers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

It isn't often that I am able to be close enough to a Northern Harrier to take a portrait of one, in fact I can only think of one time that I've been that fortunate and that was in May of 2016.

Anxiously Awaiting My First Of Season American Tree Sparrows

By |2021-03-05T14:39:12-07:00November 2nd, 2018|Categories: American Tree Sparrows, Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

I checked eBird this morning and I only see one person reporting American Tree Sparrows so far this autumn in northern Utah so hopefully that means one more cold front pushing through and I will be seeing these long-tailed, rusty capped sparrows with their gray heads, rusty eyelines and bicolored bills.

Sibling Red-tailed Hawk Juveniles Perched & On The Wing

By |2021-03-15T09:22:43-06:00July 17th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Red-tailed Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Back in March of this year I started watching and photographing a pair of Red-tailed Hawks in the process of building their nest on the face of a high cliff, these two juveniles are the results of the hard work of that pair of hawks.

Dark Morph Swainson’s Hawk – Possibly The Darkest I Have Ever Seen

By |2021-04-15T04:57:47-06:00April 18th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Swainson's Hawks, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Just about one year ago I was thrilled to photograph a very cooperative dark morph Swainson's Hawk that is possibly the darkest, dark morph I have ever seen.

Celebrating Twenty-five Hundred Posts at On The Wing Photography

By |2021-04-04T12:38:28-06:00April 9th, 2018|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Short-eared Owls, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

Today I am celebrating my 2500th post here at On The Wing Photography! I've been sharing my photography and the stories behind the images since 2010 here on my site and what a ride it has been.

Clark’s Grebe and Ring-billed Gull Skirmish – The Clark’s Grebe Wins

By |2023-09-24T06:16:44-06:00October 23rd, 2015|Categories: Birds, Clark's Grebes, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Ring-billed Gulls, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

I spent a few hours at Farmington Bay WMA yesterday and was able to witness a very brief skirmish between a Clark's Grebe that had a fish in its bill and a Ring-billed Gull that tried to steal the fish.

Greater Yellowlegs at Farmington Bay

By |2021-08-17T05:48:42-06:00September 26th, 2015|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Greater Yellowlegs, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I've been able to photograph several shorebird species the past week and although Greater Yellowlegs are common at Farmington Bay WMA I still think they are quite lovely.

A Lifer for Me – Pectoral Sandpiper at Farmington Bay WMA

By |2016-12-07T12:07:16-07:00September 25th, 2015|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Pectoral Sandpipers, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

It isn't every day that I add a lifer to the list of shorebirds I have seen and photographed but yesterday I did when I saw and photographed a Pectoral Sandpiper.

Fishing American White Pelican at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

By |2021-04-09T05:01:32-06:00September 20th, 2015|Categories: American White Pelicans, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

This American White Pelican image was taken in July near the auto tour loop at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and I like how it shows the pelican fishing for food.

A Tragic Sight To See – A Barn Owl Caught on Barb Wire

By |2023-04-25T09:58:58-06:00September 10th, 2015|Categories: Barn Owls, Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday morning I saw a sight that made me ill to see and that is a Barn Owl hung up on a barb wire fence on the south side of the Centennial Valley.

Black-necked Stilt And My Concerns About The Future Of The Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

By |2016-12-07T12:07:28-07:00August 10th, 2015|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Black-necked Stilts, Box Elder County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

If the Bear River is dammed upstream I have to wonder if we will see history repeating itself but made even worse by climate change, reduced snow pack and rising temperatures and how that will impact the refuge.

Western Kingbirds – Juveniles Begging To Be Fed

By |2021-05-31T13:08:26-06:00July 30th, 2015|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Utah, Western Kingbirds|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

So even though I didn't come home with many Burrowing Owls images yesterday these Western Kingbird images more than made up for it!

Juvenile Wilson’s Phalarope

By |2021-07-06T17:41:03-06:00July 25th, 2015|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Utah, Wilson's Phalaropes|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

Bear River National Wildlife Refuge was lovely yesterday morning and one of the nice surprises I found was this juvenile Wilson's Phalarope on the west side of the auto tour route.

Wonderful Photo Session with a White-crowned Sparrow

By |2023-09-27T04:07:56-06:00June 13th, 2015|Categories: Beaverhead County, Birds, Centennial Valley, Montana, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, White-crowned Sparrows|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday was bright and sunny in the Centennial Valley and after hearing this White-crowned Sparrow singing I felt like breaking out in song too.

Willow Flycatcher on Antelope Island

By |2021-05-25T04:18:58-06:00June 5th, 2015|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Utah, Willow Flycatchers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

Early last week while photographing Western Kingbirds I also had the opportunity to photograph a Willow Flycatcher that was hanging around the same area on Antelope Island State Park.

First year male Bullock’s Oriole

By |2021-04-26T11:21:08-06:00May 28th, 2015|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Bullock's Orioles, Davis County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Earlier this week while photographing Western Kingbirds I also had opportunities to photograph a first year male Bullock's Oriole on Antelope Island State Park.

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