Young Uinta Ground Squirrels Through My Lens
I had a blast photographing these baby Uinta Ground Squirrels and sharing them with my Mom. It was a peaceful, relaxing morning filled with birds, squirrels, lovely scenery and great company.
I had a blast photographing these baby Uinta Ground Squirrels and sharing them with my Mom. It was a peaceful, relaxing morning filled with birds, squirrels, lovely scenery and great company.
May... the month where baby Uinta Ground Squirrels seem to show up everywhere within their favorite habitats which include shrubsteppe habitat, meadows and pastures with elevations of between 4,000 and 8,010 feet in areas of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Utah.
I'm sharing two Uinta Ground Squirrel photos taken two days ago a canyon in the Wasatch Mountains, one adult that was wet from the morning dew and one baby that was just outside of its burrow.
I was delighted to be able to photograph the female Northern Yellow Warbler as she fed her young and to watch the fledgling as it fluttered its wings and gulped down the food the female brought it.
Photographing Yellow-bellied Marmot pups have delighted me this spring and since they don't stay little for long I have taken photos of them every time I have had the chance.
Spring is the season of birth and rebirth, the leaves of trees unfurl, the dormant grasses and forbs poke up through the ground, flower buds burst open and flowers in all the colors of the rainbow appear on the landscapes, birds nest and incubate and wild animals give birth to their young.
The two times I have observed and photographed these Yellow-bellied Marmot pups I have enjoyed watching them explore the area around their burrow, not only are they cute they are also entertaining.
The most fun I had yesterday wasn't photographing my feathered friends instead it was while I photographed a female Yellow-bellied Marmot and her five delightful pups.
Today I am celebrating my 2500th post here at On The Wing Photography! I've been sharing my photography and the stories behind the images since 2010 here on my site and what a ride it has been.
One good bird can make my day... Yesterday that bird was an immature Red-tailed Hawk at Farmington Bay WMA that lifted off from a metal post and flew over the marsh.
I can't be certain this is the same goose that I saw on December 26th but I found an immature Snow Goose feeding with some Canada Geese in the grass across the pond.
If I hadn't turned my Jeep around when I did in the direction I chose I would never have found three adorable Short-eared Owl chicks not far from the shoulder of the road in beautiful morning light.
I'm over the moon that I was able to photograph these Common Mergansers landing and lifting off from the pond yesterday and I am pleased with the photos I took.
This morning I am sharing a photo of one of the few young Short-eared Owls I found and pointed out this past breeding season here in northern Utah.
I've been thinking a lot about the lone surviving Red-tailed Hawk from the nest that blew down because of strong winds earlier in June.
Yesterday morning found me at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, a wild and wonderful place that I am very thankful for because of the birds there, the spectacular scenery and the refuge I find within its boundaries.
Yesterday morning while looking for birds to photograph on Antelope Island State Park I had two White-crowned Sparrows fly into a rabbitbrush that was so close to me that all I could do was take portraits of them.
I've been seeing plenty of White-crowned Sparrows on Antelope Island State Park of late and yesterday they were busy feeding on the wild sunflowers that grow there.
Franklin's Gulls are only here in northern Utah during the breeding season, during the winter they spend their time along the west coast of South America.
There were birds that I photographed including this Yellow-rumped Warbler who perched out in the open with the fall colors of curly docks in the background.
The juvenile and out of focus adult Mourning Doves were perched on a lichen encrusted, slightly frosted fence rail near the road in the southern part of the Centennial Valley.
One of my fondest memories for photographing Trumpeter Swans happened on an evening of September of 2015 in southwestern Montana.
When the young American White Pelicans are old enough to leave the island they fly to areas like Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge to learn how to catch fish on their own before they migrate in the fall.
It was a juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron encounter on the auto tour route at the refuge and the resulting photos that made me smile the most when I viewed the images on my monitor at home
Two days ago I had a few fleeting moments with an immature Black-chinned Hummingbird that flew in and landed close to me and I relished every second with it.
It does seem odd though to see Great Blue Herons hanging around the Great Salt Lake after the chicks have fledged like this immature heron I photographed yesterday near the causeway.
When I look at this photo of the juvenile Sanderling I see a bird that was so relaxed that it fell asleep while I photographed it because it was comfortable with my presence and I felt honored that it was.
This juvenile Red-tailed Hawk may have looked like it was giving me the eye when I photographed it but it was actually looking for one of its parents to bring it some food.
Birds aren't always neat looking, feathers wear, birds molt and young birds transitioning from their juvenal plumage into adult plumage can look quite disheveled or messy.
This image kind of looks like I photographed a two-headed juvenile Western Kingbird but it is really an optical illusion.