Yesterday my post focused on female Mountain Bluebirds and today I am presenting males in honor of Father's Day. I was blessed to have two fathers, one who died when I was very young and later in my second Dad came into my life.
There were Mountain Bluebirds everywhere I looked on my recent trip to Montana where flashes of their brilliant blue plumage were a delight to my eyes.
It was great to get back out into the field yesterday and even better that there were some cooperative Lark Sparrows in my viewfinder.
Yellow-bellied Marmots are the western cousins of Groundhogs but unlike Groundhogs (Woodchucks) they aren't fabled critters that can predict spring and I am okay with that because spring gets here when it gets here.
This male Tree Swallow was perched on a fence post in western Montana last week when I photographed him while the morning light lit him up beautifully.
I photographed this mated pair of Red-tailed Hawks last week in western Montana as they soaked up the warming rays of the morning sun.
I've been enjoying seeing Long-billed Curlews for several weeks now in northern Utah. These large shorebirds birds are also called "Candlestick birds" and "Sickle Birds" because of their long bills.
Just a simple Willet image today that I took on Antelope Island State Park earlier this month.
This Western Meadowlark lifted off from a Sagebrush and I was able to track it and capture this image as soon as it was airborne. I've found it difficult to get images of Western Meadowlarks in flight because they move so quickly.
Sometimes I take the shot despite knowing that I am not shooting in optimal conditions, most of the time the results are awful but once in awhile I actually enjoy the final image.
Brewer's Sparrows were abundant at the location where I photographed Ospreys close to the Flaming Gorge Reservoir last week and it seemed like they sang every time they popped up on top of the Sagebrush in the area.
Last week; while fighting off a bloodsucking cloud of no-see-ums, I was able to photograph this male Long-billed Curlew as it flew past me.
Even this Antelope Island Chukar on the rocks seemed to be shrugging off the winter doldrums. Or maybe it was airing out its arm (wing) pits.
Yesterday I was able to photograph this Green-tailed Towhee as it sang on top of a Juniper in a canyon of the Stansbury Mountains in Tooele County, Utah.
I photographed this Mule Deer doe while camping in North Willow Canyon in the Stansbury Mountain Range of Tooele County, Utah.
Two days ago I spotted this Chukar on Antelope Island State Park on the edge of the road near the marina, the Chukar was at road level but just beyond the rock there is a slope that drops about 25 to 30 feet.
Yesterday I was lucky enough to find and point out this springtime Raven perched in front of a field of pink Filaree, a wildflower from the Geranium family.
A few days ago I spotted this female American Kestrel on the road to Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge, and I do mean in the road. She almost didn't move even when the pickup was 20 feet from her as we rolled to a stop.
This is just a simple Long-billed Curlew post with images I took not long before I discovered the Mountain Plovers on April 10th on Antelope Island State Park.
The American Bison on Antelope Island are starting to show signs of shedding their winter coats and for awhile they will look a bit ratty.
I wanted to share a few more of the Mountain Plover images I took which are a lifer bird for me as well as being rare in Utah.
What I saw through my lens was a Mountain Plover, a bird I have long dreamed of seeing. A rarity here in Utah.
This female Great Horned Owl was resting at the opening of an old granary in Glacier County, Montana when I photographed her.
These Pronghorn images were taken a few years ago during the spring and I thought I would share them this morning partly because the yellow flowers in these images; Gray's Biscuitroot, have just started to bloom this year.
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.
Some times there is one bird that makes (or perhaps saves) a day, yesterday it was this Chukar for me. I can say I didn't get skunked!
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.
Normally we have Western Meadowlarks year round here in the Salt Lake Valley but because this past winter was harsh it seemed that they moved south for a bit. They are back now and singing their songs of spring.
March is a month when I begin to anticipate the arrival of Willets, I have been listening carefully for them and hoping to catch sight of them along the causeway to Antelope Island any day now.
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