Harlequin Faced Lark Sparrows
The harlequin faced Lark Sparrows are unique, easily identified and quite striking for sparrows which are known for being "little brown jobs".
The harlequin faced Lark Sparrows are unique, easily identified and quite striking for sparrows which are known for being "little brown jobs".
The first bird I photographed yesterday morning was a wet Chukar on top of a lichen covered boulder about the time the sun rose above the clouds and mountains to the east.
I adore the Black-tailed Jackrabbits I see on Antelope Island State Park for their huge caramel colored eyes, long ears and their soft looking fur.
I am not sure why the Red-tailed Hawk lifted off with nesting material in its bill from the nest, maybe the hawk felt that piece of nesting material wasn't suitable.
I thought I would share a few Lark Sparrow facts, a sound recording and of course an image of a Lark Sparrow on the ground.
Yesterday I was able to photograph a Western Meadowlark bathing in a puddle in a gravel road on Antelope Island State Park under mostly sunny skies.
It is breeding season for Killdeer at Bear River MBR and for all of Utah.
For weeks I have been seeing White-faced Ibis fly overs and yesterday I had my first opportunity to photograph them for the year at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
This banking Red-tailed Hawk is one of the pair that are busy building their nest and making nearby forays to find nesting materials.
I photographed Long-billed Curlews, Willets and Chukars along with a few other birds and a Pronghorn buck. It was a beautiful spring day.
I came across this image yesterday that I took one day shy of a year ago while looking for another image in my files and thought that I would post it today because I like the wing position.
This image shows a Short-eared Owl nictitating membrane that is partially exposed. The dark line near the center of the eye is the edge of the nictitating membrane.
When I photographed this Forster's Tern hovering over prey there were several others in the area doing the same thing which makes it difficult to decide on which bird to photograph.
Yesterday it was the northern Utah Short-eared Owls that made me so very glad that I am a bird photographer and that for a little while I am part of their world.
This Sage Thrasher and Lark Sparrow on rabbitbrush are only two of the birds that benefit from the rabbitbrush on Antelope Island.
I always enjoy when the Clark's Grebes return to northern Utah and hope that this year I will be able to photograph their weed ceremony or them rushing.
I was able to take images of a Box Elder County Yellow-bellied Marmot further south next to the road near the foothills of the Promontory Mountains.
I eagerly anticipate the birds that arrive with spring including an early spring Western Grebe who will soon be courting and rushing at the refuge.
After they burn the phragmites it doesn't take long for life to go back to normal for some of the birds like this Killdeer in a burned area.
My life is great whenever I can photograph a pair of Sandhill Cranes wherever I find them and yesterday I had these beauties in my viewfinder.
A short trip to look for Greater Sage-Grouse, White-tailed Prairie Dogs and the other birds and animals that call the sagebrush steppe their home.
It has been a while since I photographed this Short-eared Owl in Tooele County at the James W. Fitzgerald WMA
Seeing and photographing this Red-breasted Nuthatch was such a thrill for me that I want a repeat performance!
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.
Western Wood-Pewees are drab, medium-sized, flycatchers that breed in the open forests and riparian habitats in western North America.
This young Mountain Bluebird chick was photographed last summer at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in southwestern Montana.
This Forster's Tern wasn't trying to take over this Canada Goose nest when I photographed it but it might look that way in this image.
I photographed this California Gull back in May on Antelope Island State Park in falling rain and like the streaks of rain in the frame.
This Osprey image was taken in April of 2009 at Fort De Soto's north beach. I had been photographing smaller birds that were close to me when I noticed the Osprey flying in with a whiting.
I'm posting this Tree Swallow image that was taken at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in memory of a great friend, Rohn McKee.