Four Years Ago Today I Found A Rare Upland Sandpiper
Four years ago today stopping for a Golden Eagle perched on a power pole in Box Elder County would net me a rare Upland Sandpiper sighting because of the sandpiper's chattering call.
Four years ago today stopping for a Golden Eagle perched on a power pole in Box Elder County would net me a rare Upland Sandpiper sighting because of the sandpiper's chattering call.
I took forty-eight photos of this flycatcher three days ago as it watched for flying insects from its perch and I realized that these might be the last Willow Flycatcher photos that I take this year.
I was "over the moon" excited when I spotted an adult male Nashville Warbler out in the open at the top of a willow yesterday while up in the Wasatch Mountains.
A while back I came across some butterfly photos that I had taken on July 19, 2015 that I hadn't processed or identified so recently I went about finding out what species of butterfly I had photographed.
When this Barn Swallow came in to land it struggled a bit with the wind which is why its wings were raised to regain its balance in this image.
I only had two minutes with these immature Eastern Kingbirds and I felt I had to make every second I had with them in my viewfinder count. I succeeded.
This is probably far more information on "He? She? It?" than anyone wanted to see this morning but after photographing the adult and immature Green-tailed Towhees yesterday I thought this was a great time to do this post.
On four out of five trips up into the Wasatch Mountains this week I've been able to take images of immature and female Western Tanagers
Stopping to eat my muffins at this location was a great idea because this week on three trips to this spot I've photographed more than just Cedar Waxwings at this location.
The bird activity picked up just after the sun rose over the mountains peaks and as I scanned the area for birds I spotted this Pine Siskin almost directly in front of me clinging to a small branch.
I saw and heard Black-capped and Mountain Chickadees yesterday morning but only this Black-capped Chickadee came in close enough for me to photograph.
Birds aren't the only creatures feasting on the ripe serviceberries in the Wasatch Mountains right now, Least Chipmunks are also gorging on the juicy berries too.
The Cedar Waxwing didn't appear to be on the shrub to eat the serviceberries because all it did was call and look around. Perhaps its young were also in the area.
Yesterday I did take some bird photos and although I didn't find any avian rarities I did find a beautiful young Red Fox in a mountain meadow to photograph.
It was fun to have the male and immature Western Tanager in my viewfinder for a few moments high in the Wasatch Mountains last week. I hope I see more soon.
I was over the moon to be able to take these photos of the young Spotted Sandpiper swimming across the alpine creek because I've never had the opportunity to do so before.
I was happy to have these juvenile Mountain Bluebirds in my viewfinder yesterday and to be able to listen to their soft calls high on the sagebrush dotted hillside.
It is the season of phalarope migration here in the Great Basin hub of the Pacific Flyway and one of the best places to view these shorebirds is along the causeway to Antelope Island State Park.
Yesterday I didn't miss photographing this gorgeous juvenile Townsend's Solitaire because I remembered to pay attention to what was going on beyond my viewfinder.
Three days ago I was thoroughly delighted when an adult Willow Flycatcher that had been hiding behind a branch flew in for a nice series of close up photos.
The Mountain Bluebird families I saw didn't stay close to the road and my best images were taken of this fledgling as it perched on an old metal post.
Today I am sharing a photo of a fledgling Song Sparrow I photographed last week next to an alpine creek high in the Wasatch Mountains.
Worldwide doves symbolize peace and I felt that I could use a little of that feeling this morning so I decided to share some Mourning Dove images I took two days ago in northern Utah.
When I saw a Gray Catbird fledgling inch its way up a stick two days ago and then exhibit begging behavior by raising its wings and opening its bill I locked on to it.
I was happy that I decided to photograph the striking Black-headed Grosbeak instead of the Downy Woodpecker that was at least forty feet in front of me.
This spring I've been able to enjoy photographing a family of muskrats that live in a creek in the Wasatch Mountains and I expect I will also see them at least part way through the summer as well.
I took quite a few photos of the fledgling Short-eared Owl that I had a clear view of and even though the lighting wasn't the best I was enchanted by the views I had of it.
I had a spectacular morning yesterday high up in the Wasatch Mountains and among the highlights of the day was a herd of cow Elk moving down a hillside just before 9 o'clock.
One of the birds I was excited to see and photograph yesterday morning was an adult Eastern Kingbird perched on a pickleweed next to the road.
The young Short-eared Owl in this photo was parallaxing when I photographed it in which basically means the fledgling owl was moving its head to gain different viewpoints.