This is a win/win proposal for the National Wildlife Refuge System and for everyone who visits them. For every person who is concerned about the future of out National Wildlife Refuges and for every organization who supports conservation of our public lands and the nation's wildlife.
Yesterday I spotted this lone Coyote walking in the snow on a hillside on Antelope Island State Park and stopped to take some images of it before it disappeared into the brush.
Just a simple juvenile Red-tailed Hawk this morning that I took last year on Antelope Island State Park as it flew past me with the dark Farmington complex rocks in the background.
Yesterday I spotted a Coyote on Antelope Island, it was down a slope near a herd of Pronghorn and not in the best of light. I noticed almost right away that the Coyote was limping rather badly.
I can recall clearly the day I took this photograph of Sandwich Terns mating, I was sitting very low in a tidal lagoon on the north beach of Fort De Soto County Park in Florida, it was very warm and the water of the lagoon felt great on my skin when these two terns started a breeding display.
Since I moved to Utah I think of Long-billed Curlews as my personal harbinger of spring.
When I look at these two snowy Chukar images I sense a moodiness in the first image that the second one doesn't seem to convey.
Just a few Red-tailed Hawk images that I have been meaning to process and share.
You might wonder why I have used this title but since the 25th of January changes have been made to Google Image Search that have infuriated webmasters, photographers, artists and many more.
The majority of you voted for the correct answer: Juvenile Herring Gull, 1st winter Laughing Gull and Royal Tern
I came across this image this morning while working up my post Bird images from warmer days and all at 300mm or less and thought it might make a great image for a Bird ID Quiz.
I dare news agencies to write factual articles about the inhumane practice of slaughtering Coyotes which has been proven by science to be largely ineffective in controlling their population, to observe the Coyotes being blown up in their dens and to witness the suffering of these animals when they are caught in traps.
The answer to the ID quiz is a female Green-winged Teal! Out of 49 people taking the quiz there were 6 votes for Mallard, 8 votes for Blue-winged Teal, 9 votes for Gadwall and 26 votes for Green-winged Teal.
I am intrigued by how these herons evolved to have long necks that give them the ability to make lightning fast strikes at their prey some distance from their bodies.
The weather forecast for yesterday was "mostly sunny" and once again the weather forecasters were wrong, at least for the period of time I was out photographing on Antelope Island State Park.
I wanted to share a few images taken two days ago when Antelope Island was covered with a fresh snow fall. The entire island looked glorious and the sunlight caused the snow to sparkle much to my delight.
The Great Blue Heron I photographed on Christmas Day seems to have focused my attention on wading birds, yesterday it was Reddish Egrets and this morning I present a Tricolored Heron shaking its feather while on tip toes
Yesterday I took a stroll down memory lane, actually I looked for images I have taken either on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day in my files but in a way that is taking a stroll down memory lane.
Evening can have marvelous light too though as shown in the Roseate Spoonbill image above that I photographed in Florida as it hunted for prey in a tidal lagoon.
A simple image of a Red Knot taken in Florida in early morning light. Morning has been; and is, my favorite time of day to photograph birds and other wildlife because the rising sun can add drama and a warm glow to whatever subject I am photographing.
I recall that when I first started photographing the juvenile Red-tailed Hawks in this area back in August that they missed their prey more times than they would capture it and now they seem to have gone the other way, they are catching the prey more than they are missing it.
This Wilson's Plover and its mate were being run ragged chasing after the two chicks they had fledged, this adult stopped in front of me where I had laid down in the sugary white sand and rested a few moments in the dried Sea Purslane stalks.
I hope that no one is getting sick of my Coyotes images. I took this Coyote photo two days ago as it walked on a Great Salt Lake beach.
I'm pleased with this bison image because it contains so many icons of the western U.S., the bison grazing on prairie grasses, the Great Salt Lake and a mountain range in the background.
I remember the morning I took this photo well, it was a warm morning in February at Fort De Soto's north beach, the Great Egret was in the tidal lagoon near the Concession Stand and it had been actively hunting when it came up with this Mullet.
While looking for birds to photograph I spotted a pair of Coyotes hunting and roaming through the snow-covered landscape together.
We've gotten a lot of snow in the Salt Lake Valley since Friday, I swept at least a foot of snow off my vehicle yesterday and about 3 to 4 inches on Friday, as I write this the snow is still falling.
Yesterday I had an opportunity to photograph this Bison bull grazing on Antelope Island State Park with the mountains of Promontory Point in the background with just a small bit of the Great Salt Lake showing too.
I scoured my files and the scariest thing I could come up with for Halloween is this Golden-silk Spider (other than images of me). I don't think it is really scary except that it doesn't have feathers or fur.
I've wanted to capture images of a Coyote in blowing snow for a while now and I did get the chance yesterday, I really wish the foreground vegetation hadn't been in the way of a clear view of the Coyote.