To photograph Northern House Wrens and other birds I know I need to find them which means focusing my attention on the sights and sounds around me whenever I am out in the field which has worked extremely well for me.
Eight days ago I photographed my first male Northern Yellow Warbler of the year and two days ago I had some luck with my first females of the season.
Imagine my surprise when through my viewfinder I could see that the female Mountain Bluebird had landed on a Swiss Army knife that was stuck into the bark of one of the trees.
I got out into the field for a little while yesterday morning and because of the observation skills I have developed over many years I was able to find two Wild Turkey hens roosting in Aspen trees.
No matter how these Golden Eagle photos came to be I am happy to have photographed this magnificent bird on the wing.
When this European Starling perched in a Crabapple tree close to me during the snowstorm I was able to get a few photos of it before my hands started to hurt from the cold.
Yesterday I was able to focus on this American Robin as it foraged in the branches of a crabapple tree and took a nice, long series of images of the handsome red-breasted thrush.
Yesterday morning I spent some time up in the Wasatch Mountains and I am so glad that I did because I found a second winter Bald Eagle with leucism.
These nesting Northern House Wren photos were taken two years ago at the end of May high up in the Uinta Mountains where stands of aspens are used as nesting trees.
I could wish that there weren't any branches in front of the hawk but honestly it just felt good to not have something happen to ruin my opportunity to photograph this Rough-legged Hawk.
Yesterday there was a bit of light in the morning so I went to see if there were any birds that could be photographed at my local ponds and I was delighted when I heard the rattling call of a Belted Kingfisher.
It is still dark here in northern Utah but I can tell there is some fresh snow on the ground so I guess that makes this a white Christmas even if the white stuff melts before the sun comes up over the mountains.
A soft blue sky, a juniper and a Rock Squirrel made me pretty happy two days ago because I don't have these squirrels in my viewfinder nearly as often as I'd like to.
I photographed this adult White-crowned Sparrow about two weeks ago in northern Utah while it perched on a hackberry tree on a hill with blooming rabbitbrush in the background.
When I photographed this immature Yellow-rumped Warbler two days ago I couldn't tell what prey it had snagged so I was surprised when I got home and saw that the warbler had snatched a damselfly.
Here in northern Utah it isn't often that Myrtle and Audubon's Yellow-rumped Warblers are found perched in the same tree but four days ago that is what happened to me.
Last Friday as I looked for birds in a few West Desert canyons I was serenaded by the songs and calls of Townsend's Solitaires and while I loved hearing them it was frustrating because they were either too far away or hidden from my view.
While I know that for some people this Green-tailed Towhee image might be a "little out there" for their tastes and personal preferences I don't photograph birds for them, I photograph birds for me.
The other bird I photographed that day in the high Uintas was a gorgeous male Northern Yellow Warbler foraging in an aspen tree very close to where I sat inside a "mobile" blind at the edge of a dirt road.
One of my trips out to Fish Springs NWR happened during this time of the year and while I was there so was a gorgeous adult Bald Eagle that perched in the trees near the picnic area not too far from the refuge headquarters.
I took a long series of photos of this male American Kestrel in a tree at Farmington Bay WMA back in January and decided that I liked these two photos of the kestrel the best.
One male California Quail turned his head and through my viewfinder I could see him yawning and this was the only photo I got of him where I could see his entire face and eyes at a good angle.
Two days ago I found two California Quail hens perched low in a tree in Davis County, Utah and I was delighted that one of them was out in the open in nice light.
Northern Yellow Warblers are anything but mellow instead they are frenetic, hyperactive, frenzied, energetic and move so quickly they sometimes make me dizzy trying to track them with my long lens.
One year ago today I experienced one of the two most frustrating days in my entire time of being a bird photographer while photographing Red-naped Sapsuckers in the Targhee National Forest of Idaho.
I love seeing the Aspen eyes of the forest upon me and I find myself happy to photograph them whenever I can.
I spotted a flash of black, white and red as a bird landed in the aspen tree that was closest to me above where the wrens and swallows are nesting and realized that a male Red-naped Sapsucker had flown in and was foraging for food in the buds of the aspen.
When I had the opportunity to photograph a Northern Yellow Warbler foraging in a flowering tree I jumped at the chance. Right after I took this photo the warbler snatched a tiny insect from the flowers but I couldn't make out what it was.
Imagine a bird whose bright yellow feathers rival the rays of the sun then add a black forehead, ebony eyes, black and white wings and you have a male American Goldfinch in breeding plumage. Feathered sunshine.
Three days ago after I photographed the female American Kestrel eating her prey on a lichen-covered rock I was able to take a few photographs of a single adult White-crowned Sparrow that was perched on a budding tree.