Great Horned Owls and Horned Larks – Birds with Tufts
Great Horned Owls and Horned Larks are species of birds that have tufts that I photograph regularly here in Utah.
Male American Kestrel In Low Light
Male American Kestrel in low light
A Lark, Or Two, Or Four
The only native true lark that lives and breeds in North America is the Horned Lark.
Male Boat-tailed Grackle portrait
Male Boat-tailed Grackles have velvety black feathers that glow in the right light with iridescence purples, blues, teals and greens.
Male Long-billed Curlew Lifting Off
I photographed this male Long-billed Curlew last week as he was starting to lift off.
Seen and Heard – First Of Year Long-billed Curlew
When we stopped at one of the parking lots that overlooked Bridger Bay I heard a call that made me jump in my seat and before I could say "Long-billed Curlew!!" I could see the bird flying towards the grasses.
Male Tree Swallow In Flight
This male Tree Swallow in flight image was taken two years ago at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Montana and for some reason I had not processed it until now.
Horned Lark In Early Spring
I photographed this male Horned Lark just two days ago and I'm tickled that I can see new growth of grasses in the frame.
Side Lit American Kestrel
I came across this American Kestrel image yesterday while moving images to a new external hard drive and realized I hadn't edited any of the photos in the series yet, so I did.
Songs of Spring – Red-winged Blackbirds
Fairly soon I'll be seeing many more of the male Red-winged Blackbirds perching at the top of rushes and cattails singing springtime serenades for the females and flashing their brilliantly colored epaulets
Horned Larks in Box Elder County
I spotted a flock of Horned Larks in Box Elder County, some were foraging on the road and a few were perched on mounds of snow that someone had plowed. It seemed like the ones on the snow were just enjoying the sunshine.
Nesting Osprey pair at Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area
It is cloudy and snowing hard outside this morning so I dug into my files and edited these nesting Osprey images I took last year at Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area in Utah.
Pale Male Coyote And His Injured Mate
Yesterday I spotted a Coyote on Antelope Island, it was down a slope near a herd of Pronghorn and not in the best of light. I noticed almost right away that the Coyote was limping rather badly.
Western Tanager male at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge
This Western Tanager was photographed last summer at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in the Centennial Valley of Beaverhead County, Montana.
Different Plumage Phases Of Red-breasted Merganser Drakes
Awhile back someone told me that Mergansers don't change their plumage seasonally, which is of course incorrect as all three species of mergansers that live in North America do.
Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge Barn Swallow
Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge has five species of swallows, they are Tree, Northern Rough-winged, Violet-green, Cliff and Barn Swallows.
Ring-necked Pheasant Males In The Snow
Ring-necked Pheasant males are far more colorful than the females and in snow they seem even more vividly colored.
The ID Of The Female Duck Is…
The answer to the ID quiz is a female Green-winged Teal! Out of 49 people taking the quiz there were 6 votes for Mallard, 8 votes for Blue-winged Teal, 9 votes for Gadwall and 26 votes for Green-winged Teal.
More on Escaped Falconry Birds
Throughout these three experiences in finding escaped falconry birds what I have learned is that falconry is for experts not for people who just think it is cool to have a pet raptor.
Male American Kestrel Lifting Off
There is something about American Kestrels that speaks to me. They might be our smallest falcon in North America but they have big attitudes, fierce characters and are terrific hunters.
Male Ring-necked Pheasant in marsh habitat
Ring-necked Pheasants are colorful upland game birds that are native to Asia and were introduced into North America for recreational hunting purposes and now occur widespread across southern Canada and in many areas of the U.S. except for some of the southern states.
Bison bull in front of the Wasatch Mountain Range
I'm pleased with this bison image because it contains so many icons of the western U.S., the bison grazing on prairie grasses, the Great Salt Lake and a mountain range in the background.
Male Common Merganser in nonbreeding plumage
Last week I saw quite a few Common Mergansers at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge but I wasn't able to get close enough to them to get any quality images but they reminded me of images I had been able to take of Common Mergansers several years ago at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area.
Ring-necked Duck Drake
I photographed this drake Ring-necked Duck in breeding plumage a few years ago on a pond not far from where I live.
Resting Mule Deer Buck At Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge
So, my best shots of the day were of this resting Mule Deer buck that I almost missed spotting because he blended in so well with the habitat.
American Bison in the Snow
We've gotten a lot of snow in the Salt Lake Valley since Friday, I swept at least a foot of snow off my vehicle yesterday and about 3 to 4 inches on Friday, as I write this the snow is still falling.
The Horns of Pronghorns
The horns of Pronghorns are composed of a permanent slender, laterally flattened blade of bone that is covered by a keratinous sheath.
Grazing American Bison Bull
Yesterday I had an opportunity to photograph this Bison bull grazing on Antelope Island State Park with the mountains of Promontory Point in the background with just a small bit of the Great Salt Lake showing too.
Pumpkin Patch Birds – Red-winged Blackbirds and White-crowned Sparrows
There is a rather large Pumpkin Patch near the road going to the Nature Center at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area where I like to photograph birds. They have a straw maze and all kinds of activities for children too.
Wood Duck Drake
When I photographed this Wood Duck drake I remember wishing that we had high thin clouds to diffuse the sunlight a bit. It still worked out okay though.