Short-eared Owl in Glacier County, Montana
Two years ago I photographed this male Short-eared Owl in Glacier County, Montana on a fence post on the perimeter of some CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) land on an August evening.
Two years ago I photographed this male Short-eared Owl in Glacier County, Montana on a fence post on the perimeter of some CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) land on an August evening.
I photographed this Semipalmated Plover as it foraged along the Gulf of Mexico in Florida in 2008 while I laid flat on the wet sand getting soaked as the waves pushed onto the shore around the sand bar in the distance.
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.
Cute Alert! Whenever I see Western Grebe chicks riding piggyback on their parents I can't help thinking that there is a definite cute factor going on right in front of me.
I love the descriptive name "Tiger of the Sky" when referring to Great Horned Owls, they are fierce, fearless and ferocious and the young owl in the image above is a 'Tiger in the Sky" in the making.
Burrowing Owls are iconic birds of Antelope Island State Park, I can't tell you how many times people write to me and ask "Where can I see Burrowing Owls on Antelope Island State Park?".
A bald red head, dark plumage and a white tipped bill isn't something that most people think of as handsome, regal or even good looking but Turkey Vultures are awesome at what they do.
Yesterday was frustrating for me near Snowville, Utah because there were raptors all around but not many of them were close enough to photograph and the ones that were close were either vey skittish or wouldn't fly off of the power poles even after long periods of time.
In the Centennial Valley of Montana at this time of the year I see plenty of White-crowned Sparrows of the interior west sub-species and although most of them that I see are juveniles there are also adults hanging around foraging too.
Since my first visit to the Centennial Valley of Montana on June 18, 2010 I have wanted to photograph a bird; preferably a raptor, on the reddish orange lichen covered rocks found throughout the valley. On this last trip that finally happened!
I believe these are Calliope Hummingbirds but if I am wrong please do not hesitate to correct me, I don't get upset about things like that.
One of the nicknames for a Coyote is the "Prairie Wolf" and like wolves; they can be very efficient hunters.
The dark morph Ferruginous Hawk above had just lifted off from a power pole when I photographed it with a partly cloudy sky in the background.
My blog is moving to a new hosting provider and I can't wait to hop on over there!
This image shows a side view of the Pronghorn buck's face with the two unusual horn growths shown protruding from its muzzle.
Ferruginous Hawks west of the Continental Divide prefer rabbits as prey so what you see here might be the last thing a Cottontail or Jackrabbit might see.
Many of the adult Red-tailed Hawks that I saw and photographed in southwestern Montana on my last trip had worn feathers and were molting.
This adult Red-tailed flew by at close range which gave me a very nice view of the underside of its wing that shows it was also molting though it didn't look as raggedy as some of the other adult Red-tailed Hawks looked.
I had been looking at the shoreline where the tree line comes down to the river when I saw what appeared to be a large dark boulder move only the "boulder" had legs and the face of a Black Bear!
I photographed the adult Swainson's Hawk above after it had lifted off from a power pole in Beaverhead County and loved that I had thin clouds in the background which is far more pleasing to my eye than plain blue sky.
Yes, I was mobbed by Loggerhead Shrikes and I didn't mind a bit because it afforded me the opportunity to observe and photograph them up close and it was fascinating!
Last week while photographing in a canyon in the Stansbury Mountains in Tooele County, Utah I spotted this Turkey Vulture roosting in a dead tree in morning light.
The other day when I photographed the Black-crowned Night Heron at Bear River National Wildlife Refuge I also photographed some Clark's and Western Grebes, I found these two images of this Western Grebe interesting and wanted to post them.
Four years ago today I woke up in Grand Island, Nebraska and drove west to arrive in Salt Lake City, Utah with my possessions in a U-Haul trailer.
Two days ago I posted a portrait of a juvenile Loggerhead Shrike that I had photographed on Antelope Island State Park, today I am posting an image of an adult Loggerhead Shrike taken a day after I photographed the young shrike.
There are Sage Thrashers aplenty on Antelope Island State Park right now and they have been thrashing, dashing and singing their little hearts out the last three trips I have made out to the island.
Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron Stalking prey at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in northern Utah
I've only had one opportunity to photograph Cassin's Finches so far and that was in the small town of Lakeview where the headquarters of Red Rock Lakes national Wildlife Refuge is located.
Royals Terns make amazing dive bombs for their prey which are usually small baitfish running close to the surface and sometimes if you are lucky you get to see them "Tern Over" in mid air.
I can't resist photographing Burrowing Owls, I just can't. They are so much fun to see and observe.