Loggerhead Shrike On Winter Rabbitbrush
I finally photographed another Loggerhead Shrike in a nice setting this morning. It’s been a while.
Category: Birds
Barn Owl Looking Even Goofier Than Usual
In my experience Barn Owls can look pretty goofy, even on a good day. With their conspicuous facial disc, small (for an owl) deeply set eyes and their long, ivory colored bill pointing almost straight down, they look, well… different. But I certainly don’t say that disparagingly. They’re magnificent birds and I love’m to bits.
Birds, A Bison And A Bit Of An Illusion
A bison, many birds, a stormy sky in the background and even an element of novelty – all are reasons this image appeals to me.
Peregrine Falcon In Flight After Dining On Duck
Peregrine Falcons aren’t noted for their table manners and this one needed just a little cleaning up after dinner.
Weasel In The Fog (and the mechanism of their seasonal color change)
Farmington is in a sort of wrapped bowl of the Wasatch Mountains which traps clouds – the bane of bird photographers. Much the same thing happens to morning fog, especially during winter. Collectively I call the phenomenon the “Farmington Curse” and that curse, in the form of fog, was much in evidence two mornings ago when I spent some time with a Long-tailed Weasel.
Hunting Northern Harrier Turning Away From Me In Flight
I like to get the interesting ventral plumage patterns of Northern Harriers in my images whenever I can. They tend to fly low when hunting so I don’t often get a good look at the underside of both tail and wings in the same shot. But this bird cooperated for an instant and I happened to fire my shutter at just the right moment.
Anticipating Wintering Bald Eagles At Farmington Bay
With eagles on my mind during the drive home this morning I thought I’d post on Farmington eagles today.
Sidelit Chukar
Magpie Take-off From Nest Sequence
I was able to get five consecutive shots of this Black-billed Magpie as it took off from the top of its dome-shaped nest last spring on Antelope Island.
Western Meadowlark Acting Silly
I took many, many shots of this crazy, mixed up Meadowlark this past spring and I posted a few of them previously. This is another one that I like.
Golden Eagle In Flight (no wires this time)
Some of my readers are aware of my continuing quest for quality images of Golden Eagles in flight. I’m not there yet but I think I’m making progress.
Why I’m Thankful On Thanksgiving (and always) For My Nomadic Dudley Ancestors
This is a very personal post and will be atypical of my usual blogging regimen but I decided to share with family and friends and anyone else who might have an interest. For some reason my thoughts often turn to this very subject on Thanksgiving holidays, both present and past. It’s near the top of my list of things to be thankful for and my list is a long one. I’ll be forever grateful for the nomadic tendencies of my Dudley ancestors and I’ll explain why at the conclusion of this post. First a little history, Image copyright Jim Dudley, used by permission The Dudley clan is English and several of my direct paternal ancestors were among the Baron’s Dudley of Dudley Castle in the town of Dudley, West Midlands, England. One of those Dudleys was John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, who was beheaded for his attempt to set Lady Jane Grey on the throne of England. This image of part of the castle was taken by my cousin Jim Dudley several years ago. There’s not a lot left of the castle itself – some of it was destroyed by order of Parliament in 1646 and some destroyed by fire in 1750. But what is left provides some visible evidence of the historic roots of my family. My great (x8) grandfather was Governor Thomas Dudley (1576-1653). Thomas was a Puritan who because of religious persecution in England sailed with his family to the new world in 1630. He was second in command of 11 ships and about 700 puritans who…
White-crowned Sparrow On Wild Rose
There’s a wild rose near a canal at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area that makes a nice perch for songbirds when you can find them there.
Red-tailed Hawk Just Prior To Reaching Prey
This first photo isn’t a classic buteo flight shot but I believe it’s fairly unique for a non-baited image. I’ve occasionally been able to capture raptors as they’re about to land on a predictable perch but this is the first and only time I’ve been able to get a shot I like pretty well of a raptor as it’s about to (or attempt to) “land” on prey it’s seen from a far-away perch.
Kingfisher Casting A Pellet (Canon 7D vs 7D Mark 2)
I’ve been watching this female Belted Kingfisher from afar for several weeks now but in typical kingfisher fashion she has been unapproachable. But yesterday morning she partially atoned for her bashful ways and performed some interesting behavior for my camera.
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Barn Owl Looking Even Goofier Than Usual
In my experience Barn Owls can look pretty goofy, even on a good day. With their conspicuous facial disc, small (for an owl) deeply set eyes and their long, ivory colored bill pointing almost straight down, they look, well… different. But I certainly don’t say that disparagingly. They’re magnificent birds and I love’m to bits.
Birds, A Bison And A Bit Of An Illusion
A bison, many birds, a stormy sky in the background and even an element of novelty – all are reasons this image appeals to me.
Peregrine Falcon In Flight After Dining On Duck
Peregrine Falcons aren’t noted for their table manners and this one needed just a little cleaning up after dinner.
Weasel In The Fog (and the mechanism of their seasonal color change)
Farmington is in a sort of wrapped bowl of the Wasatch Mountains which traps clouds – the bane of bird photographers. Much the same thing happens to morning fog, especially during winter. Collectively I call the phenomenon the “Farmington Curse” and that curse, in the form of fog, was much in evidence two mornings ago when I spent some time with a Long-tailed Weasel.
Hunting Northern Harrier Turning Away From Me In Flight
I like to get the interesting ventral plumage patterns of Northern Harriers in my images whenever I can. They tend to fly low when hunting so I don’t often get a good look at the underside of both tail and wings in the same shot. But this bird cooperated for an instant and I happened to fire my shutter at just the right moment.
Anticipating Wintering Bald Eagles At Farmington Bay
With eagles on my mind during the drive home this morning I thought I’d post on Farmington eagles today.
Sidelit Chukar
Magpie Take-off From Nest Sequence
I was able to get five consecutive shots of this Black-billed Magpie as it took off from the top of its dome-shaped nest last spring on Antelope Island.
Western Meadowlark Acting Silly
I took many, many shots of this crazy, mixed up Meadowlark this past spring and I posted a few of them previously. This is another one that I like.
Golden Eagle In Flight (no wires this time)
Some of my readers are aware of my continuing quest for quality images of Golden Eagles in flight. I’m not there yet but I think I’m making progress.
Why I’m Thankful On Thanksgiving (and always) For My Nomadic Dudley Ancestors
This is a very personal post and will be atypical of my usual blogging regimen but I decided to share with family and friends and anyone else who might have an interest. For some reason my thoughts often turn to this very subject on Thanksgiving holidays, both present and past. It’s near the top of my list of things to be thankful for and my list is a long one. I’ll be forever grateful for the nomadic tendencies of my Dudley ancestors and I’ll explain why at the conclusion of this post. First a little history, Image copyright Jim Dudley, used by permission The Dudley clan is English and several of my direct paternal ancestors were among the Baron’s Dudley of Dudley Castle in the town of Dudley, West Midlands, England. One of those Dudleys was John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, who was beheaded for his attempt to set Lady Jane Grey on the throne of England. This image of part of the castle was taken by my cousin Jim Dudley several years ago. There’s not a lot left of the castle itself – some of it was destroyed by order of Parliament in 1646 and some destroyed by fire in 1750. But what is left provides some visible evidence of the historic roots of my family. My great (x8) grandfather was Governor Thomas Dudley (1576-1653). Thomas was a Puritan who because of religious persecution in England sailed with his family to the new world in 1630. He was second in command of 11 ships and about 700 puritans who…
White-crowned Sparrow On Wild Rose
There’s a wild rose near a canal at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area that makes a nice perch for songbirds when you can find them there.
Red-tailed Hawk Just Prior To Reaching Prey
This first photo isn’t a classic buteo flight shot but I believe it’s fairly unique for a non-baited image. I’ve occasionally been able to capture raptors as they’re about to land on a predictable perch but this is the first and only time I’ve been able to get a shot I like pretty well of a raptor as it’s about to (or attempt to) “land” on prey it’s seen from a far-away perch.
Kingfisher Casting A Pellet (Canon 7D vs 7D Mark 2)
I’ve been watching this female Belted Kingfisher from afar for several weeks now but in typical kingfisher fashion she has been unapproachable. But yesterday morning she partially atoned for her bashful ways and performed some interesting behavior for my camera.