Western Meadowlark in Snow – Stretching, Preening and Resting
I had a great time photographing a Western Meadowlark in snow yesterday on Antelope Island State Park near the White Rock Bay campgrounds.
I had a great time photographing a Western Meadowlark in snow yesterday on Antelope Island State Park near the White Rock Bay campgrounds.
Two years ago today I photographed this Wilson's Snipe resting in snow at Farmington Bay WMA, it was bitter cold and snow covered the ground.
Sometimes after a period of high activity I simply need to rest and relax or duck out into nature's wild grandeur to refresh.
For the past week I have been anxiously awaiting my first sighting of Lark Sparrows and yesterday I finally saw them.
When I photographed this resting Ruddy Turnstone male on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico in 2009 I knew it wouldn't be long before he migrated to a rocky arctic coast to breed.
This Red-shouldered Hawk was just a few feet away from a tidal lagoon and just yards away from the Gulf when I photographed it in November of 2008.
Autumn colors have begun to appear and they are delightful when reflected on the water with a nearly black and white subject like this resting Clark's Grebe.
I had an opportunity to photograph this juvenile Black-necked Stilt as it rested along the auto tour route at the refuge.
Even though Uinta Ground Squirrels are called pests, vermin and varmints by some people I happen to like them a lot as photographic subjects.
Moving; even just a little bit, can change the background of an image even when the subject is stationary.
Photographing birds; wherever I am, allows me to feel a deep and sometimes profound connection to nature. I wouldn't have it any other way.
I've mentioned in another post that "Some Days are Magic" and I felt that magic the morning I created this image of a Red-breasted Merganser.
As soon as I crossed the north beach footbridge I spotted several Roseate Spoonbills in the tidal lagoon on my right. There were adults and a few juveniles, some were resting while others preened.
It won't be long before the American White Pelicans are back at Bear River National Wildlife Refuge which is where I photographed the pelican in the image above last spring.
My 1000th post was long and contained many images so for my 1001st post I am keeping it simple with a Snowy Egret resting near the mangroves of the north beach at Fort De Soto.
Farmington Bay Waterfowl Area used to be my "go to" place for photographing Northern Harriers but this winter they are hard to find.
I was going to do a post about a Bald Eagle this morning but at the last minute had a change of mind and decided to work up this male American Kestrel that I photographed resting near the shore of the Great Salt Lake.
The first time I went to Antelope Island State Park was on July 28, 2008 and among the wonderful things that I saw and photographed that trip were hundreds of American Avocets along the causeway to the island.
Snowy Egret in the mangroves below the footbridge so I ducked down and hid behind the mangroves at the base of the bridge to photograph the egret
I photographed this Snowy Plover one September morning in Florida and it was actually cool that day... for Florida.
I wanted to share a sampler of bird images that I have taken over the past week in Davis and Box Elder Counties.
This Forster's Tern image was taken several years ago on Fort De Soto County Park's north beach while it was resting on the sand as another tern was flying towards us both.
People are fascinated by owls, I know I am. It might be that owls have forward facing eyes like this Great Horned Owlet. Those eyes truly draw a person in.
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.
I don't get to see or photograph Oystercatchers here in Utah but I still dream about these shorebirds and can hear their calls when I look at the thousands of images I took of them.
Several people have remarked on how much they like the resting Black Skimmer juvenile image that was in my rotating banner at the top of this blog so I thought I would post it to show the whole bird.
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.
The image above was taken at Fort De Soto on Florida's Gulf coast. The Willets there are habituated to people and because they are it is easier to approach them than it is here in Utah.
I'm glad I didn't turn around to head home when I saw the thick sea fog that morning, if I had I may have missed photographing some of these beautiful things.
Obtaining a low angle with small shorebirds can bring the viewer into the birds world by being down to their level. When I photographed shorebirds in Florida I was either constantly covered in sand or mud, wet or all three.