nonbreeding plumage

Spot The Sandpiper On The Seawall

By |May 5th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Spotted Sandpipers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

It really isn't too hard to spot this Spotted Sandpiper on the seawall, I just thought it was a catchy title. I saw my FOY (first of year) Spotted Sandpiper this past week and that got me excited.

Monday Blues – Little Blue Heron That Is

By |January 28th, 2013|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Little Blue Herons, Pinellas County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , |

I don't know how much snow fell over night here in the Salt Lake Valley because it is still dark outside and while I am truly not "blue" about it I thought some images from warmer times of a blue bird might be in order for a Monday.

Red Knot In Early Morning Light

By |December 17th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Pinellas County, Red Knots|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

A simple image of a Red Knot taken in Florida in early morning light. Morning has been; and is, my favorite time of day to photograph birds and other wildlife because the rising sun can add drama and a warm glow to whatever subject I am photographing.

Male Common Merganser in nonbreeding plumage

By |November 27th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Common Mergansers, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

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-billed Gull On The Wing

By |October 11th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Ring-billed Gulls, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Yesterday I had a bit of fun photographing this Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) at Farmington Bay Wildlife Management Area, I love the snowy whites these gulls exhibit in their plumage year round

Caspian Terns

By |September 10th, 2012|Categories: Caspian Terns, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Caspian Terns (Hydroprogne caspia) are North America's largest tern with a wingspan of 50 inches and weighing in at 1.4 pounds.

American Avocets In Breeding And Nonbreeding Plumage

By |August 22nd, 2012|Categories: American Avocets, Birds, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Montana, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , |

I photographed this American Avocet in nonbreeding plumage as it foraged in Glover's Pond at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area in northern Utah a few years ago in the month of November.

Ruddy Turnstones In Breeding And Nonbreeding Plumage

By |August 17th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Ruddy Turnstones|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Ruddy Turnstones in breeding and nonbreeding plumage can appear to be two different species to novice birders and bird photographers as can several other bird species.

Dunlins In Breeding And Nonbreeding Plumage

By |August 16th, 2012|Categories: Dunlins, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Dunlins exhibit a vast difference between nonbreeding and breeding plumage, so different that a novice birder might mistakenly believe that they were two different species.

Laughing Gull – Small in the Frame

By |August 5th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Laughing Gulls, Small in the frame|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

On the day that I photographed this Laughing Gull either Hurricane Ike or Gustav was out near the center of the Gulf of Mexico that was churning up the water

White Morph Reddish Egret in Stormy Light

By |June 11th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Reddish Egrets|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

In my two previous posts of a Snowy Egret and a Great Egret I mentioned how the early morning light and a nearby storm gave those images a feeling of drama. These white morph Reddish Egret images were taken that same morning not long after I created the Great Egret photos.

Red-breasted Merganser – At 220mm

By |May 4th, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Red-breasted Mergansers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

You don't always need to have long focal lengths to get close up images, this image was taken with a moderately priced Nikkor 70-300mm VR at only 220mm and it is practically full frame.

Black-bellied Plover – Composition is a Matter of Personal Taste

By |April 22nd, 2012|Categories: Black-bellied Plovers, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

As much as I like to compose images that are full frame I find that I often allow myself a touch of extra space around my subject so I can recompose in post processing by making different crops.

Forster’s Terns

By |April 8th, 2012|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Florida, Forster's Terns, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

When I moved from Florida to Utah I felt it was fortunate that some of the nonbreeding birds I used to see in Florida during the winter I now get to see in breeding plumage on their nesting grounds.

Red-breasted Merganser Lifting Off

By |February 1st, 2012|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Red-breasted Mergansers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The weather outside hasn't been good for bird photography today but since I am always behind on editing I thought I'd process this Red-breasted Merganser image that I took in Florida a few years ago.

Sanderlings – Tiny Dynamos

By |October 5th, 2011|Categories: Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Honeymoon Island State Park, Sanderlings|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Sanderlings can be a challenge to photograph because they move erratically at a very fast pace but creating images of them at their level is well worth the trouble of getting dirty and being exhausted by trying to follow the movements of these tiny dynamos.

Snowy Plover Resting At The Wrack Line

By |July 12th, 2011|Categories: Florida, Shorebirds, Snowy Plovers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I spotted this plover resting near the wrack line near the Gulf of Mexico during the winter and sand-crawled up close to it to get a low angle in the beautiful light.

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Shorebirds: Spotted Sandpipers

By |April 10th, 2011|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Spotted Sandpipers|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Spotted Sandpipers are fun to watch as they walk along the shoreline as they teeter, bob and bounce their rear ends up and down.

Laughing Gulls

By |December 17th, 2010|Categories: Birds, Florida, Fort De Soto County Park, Laughing Gulls, Pinellas County|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Laughing Gulls are quite common on the east and Gulf coastlines of the US, during breeding season they are usually found near saltwater but in nonbreeding season they are known to wander widely.

Eared Grebe – Gray Day

By |December 13th, 2010|Categories: Birds, Eared Grebes, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Low light, Utah|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Eared Grebes are the most abundant grebe in North America, there are times I see huge flocks of them on the Great Salt Lake numbering in the tens of thousands.

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