A mixed bag.
None of these photos is an award winner (well, maybe one comes fairly close – it’s been growing on me) but collectively they should give you a feeling for some of the species I see this time of year and some of the places I visit to photograph them. All of them were taken in the last week in northern Utah.
A male Broad-tailed Hummingbird in the Wasatch Mountains. I wasn’t close to him but I like the unusual pointed wing shape as he was in the process of taking off. Because of the way light behaves it isn’t easy to get light in the eye at the same time the flashy gorget is lit up but this time I managed to get both in the same photo. I just wish I’d been closer and had more detail..
A handsome Lark Sparrow in golden light posing on a weathered and leaning wooden post at the base of the Stansbury Mountains.
A Swainson’s Hawk glaring down at me from a tree near Kamas, Utah.
A Tree Swallow in a natural nesting cavity in an aspen tree in the Uinta Mountains.
A sopping wet female Red-winged Blackbird shaking off after her bath in an irrigation ditch near Kamas, Utah. I’ll probably lay awake nights wondering how she got her wing in this position without breaking anything.
A Uinta Chipmunk grooming itself in its namesake Uinta Mountains. The more time I spend looking at this photo the more I like it.
So there you have it, a mishmash of species and even of taxonomic Classes representing some of my vertebrate photo subjects over the last week. It’s heavy on birds but with me that’s to be expected.
Ron
That Lark Sparrow looks pretty perfect to me. They are such a striking bird.
Thought I’d say hi since it’s been awhile. I’m living pretty much In St George full-time now. So far I have seen And think correctly identified the following:
Lesser Goldfinch,
Northern Mockingbird
White-crowned Sparrow
House Finch
Cassin’s Finch
Morning Dove
Eurasian Collared Dove
White Winged Dove
Canyon Towhee
Black-eyed Junco
Coopers Hawk – keeps eating my Finches!
Western Bluebird
Hooded Oriole
Black-throated Sparrow
Lark Sparrow
and a good old Robin
Not bad for a beginner, I believe. My favorite is the Mockingbird. What a gorgeous and excessively loud singer! Thanks for your daily inspiration!
Hi Brenda, Good to hear from you. I still think of you when I drive by your old school. St. George is a great place for birds if you can take the heat.
Ron,
We live in a great state!
Stephen
In some ways, Stephen. Utah has its ups and downs.
Another superb and fun collection, although….If these photos were a game where you have to pick the one that doesn’t fit the obvious choice would be the Red-winged Blackbird. Disheveled; not on a natural object (ok, neither is the Lark Sparrow, but a wooden post looks more natural and benign than that cursed barbed wire); and that wing is decidedly Exorcist-esque.😱
Thanks, Lyle. “Exorcist-esque” – once again you’ve come up with a word that had never been seen on my blog. I like it.
Oooh.
So much to wonder at, so much to delight in.
I am delighted to see them all.
Thank you.
‘Rode hard and put away wet’ comes to mind looking at Ms Blackbird. Very hard, and equally wet.
She’s a hard looker in that pose isn’t she, EC.
Well, they’re all special photos for their own reasons, but I’m particularly taken by the Swainson’s hawk and the Uinta chipmunk. Because the hawk is a gorgeous raptor, even with that glare, and the chippie is so colorful against that beautiful boulder—with that perfectly placed paw! Thanks for the potpourri today, Ron!
Thanks, Chris. I’d like that Swainson’s photo better if the shooting angle hadn’t been so steep.
Very nice collection, I do like the grooming chipmunk!
Thanks, April.
Wow! Maybe I’m too easy to please, but these all look like award-winners to me. I especially like the Lark Sparrow and Tree Swallow. 🙂
Easy to please works for me, Cathy… 🙂 Thanks.
Love your potpourri posts Ron! That hummer shot is really interesting and the Swainson seemingly glaring at you is so fun! Wonderful collection 🙂
Thanks very much, Kathleen.
I shoot mostly birds too. I love to shoot mammals, reptiles and amphibians. But let’s face it, birds are by far the most available subject for wildlife photographers. Lucky for us they’re also among the most beautiful and among the most interesting!
Very well said, David. Accurately too.
By the way. That Red-winged Blackbird looks like something a Shrike put on that barbed wire. Would have been polite to let her get her hair fixed before you took the shot! But I do love seeing animals as they are, not the way they look when posed.
“That Red-winged Blackbird looks like something a Shrike put on that barbed wire”
Perfect description, Porcupine!
These are all pretty danged special! Getting the gorget and catchlight along with the wing-fling in a speedy hummingbird is quite the coup! The sparrow in that golden light? Perfection! I’d love to know what the hawk is thinking as he’s giving you that look. The swallow and chipmunk are incredible shots for many reasons. 🙂
Overall though, I feel most connected to Ms. Blackbird. More often than not these days I feel bedraggled and off-kilter with things not quite where they ought to be (and I have no idea how they got there!). 😂
“I’d love to know what the hawk is thinking as he’s giving you that look”
I think I know what it was thinking, Marty – something like ‘Get the hell out of here, Bub!”. Which I promptly did.
That red wing is certainly a stumper! I don’t think I could even imagine that wing in that position….looks like an afterthought! A nice mixed bag of photos…I find each a winner for different reasons with Ms. Chipmunk being the overall winner. ..coy always wins with me.
Kathy, the more I try to figure out that blackbird wing the more stumped I become.
Thanks for posting them all, but I really like the “critter” best. I liked it from go, but I agree with you that the more you look at it the more you like it. The background seems perfect to me as well as the color of the rocks. I think the chipmunk’s colors in the center of the background and rocks is perfect. And how its head and tail are positioned seems also just right. Yes – the more I look the more perfect it becomes. Outstanding shot.
Thanks, Everett. There’s just something about that chipmunk shot that grabs me.
Such nice variety this morning ! I especially liked the tree swallow–
( I’m wondering if you’d like it better in a slightly closer crop ? ) and think
that the chipmunk’s graceful ‘S’ curve is very winning !
Kris, I should explain. I actually do like that swallow photo but I had to do more processing than I like to in order to get the bird inside the dark cavity to stand out as well as it does. I prefer to keep processing to a bare minimum.
Sorry, when I look at the Chipmunk photo all I see is “fleas”! I think the Swallow in a tree cavity is the award winner.
As they say, Porcupine – to each his own.
Fun one and all! 🙂 Red-winged blackbird certainly a jumbled mess! Like the swallow peeking out of the hole – beautiful turquoise head color. 🙂
Predicted storm didn’t materialize here.
Night Hawks are back so it’s summer for sure…. 😉
Judy, I ALWAYS think of Montana when I see night hawks. The first time I saw them, or at least knew what they were, was at the mouth of a beautiful MT canyon. Can’t remember which canyon but I do remember that it was in MT.
What a wonderful array. There’s something about that Treeswallow in the nesting cavity that particularly appeals to me. I hope you count your success in the joy and wonder you bring, Ron!
Good to know you like the swallow photo, Alison. I waffled about including it.
Wonderful collection of colors and critters to brighten-up our morning, thank you!
Thanks, Terri.