Great Blue Heron In Flight (and working on prejudices…)
I have a confession to make and it involves a long-held prejudice I’ve had in the past against images of Great Blue Herons.
Category: Birds
Intermediate-Morph Red-tailed Hawk And Juniper Berries
I’m no authority on the highly variable color variations of the Red-tailed Hawk but I believe this bird to be an intermediate-morph adult. I love these rufous-colored hawks.
Male Northern Harrier – Gray On Gray
I photographed this male Northern Harrier earlier this month as it hunted the causeway to Antelope Island. The grayish-browns of the bird are similar to the grays of the Great Salt Lake mudflats in the background. Monochromatic images like this may be an acquired taste for many and it was through the influence of my friend and photographer Richard Ditch that I learned to appreciate them.
An Update On The Red-tailed Hawk Chicks
Ten days ago I reported on the progress of the three Red-tailed Hawk nestlings I’ve been following out in the west desert. At that time several of my readers requested that I keep folks up to date on these birds as they approach fledging. This post is my attempt to do so.
Hovering Western Kingbird
It’s virtually unheard of for me to catch a kingbird in full flight (as opposed to take-off or landing) with any kind of image quality but two days ago I finally had some success in that arena.
Prairie Falcon With The Great Salt Lake As Background
Yesterday a comment from one of my readers on a recent post got me thinking about Prairie Falcons. In the comment “James” said ” I would love to see some more shots of the prairie falcon if you have any”. I’d been considering posting more images of this beautiful female and that comment prompted me to get off my duff and finally do it.
Lark Sparrow
The bold harlequin face pattern and unique courtship behaviors of the Lark Sparrow make it among my favorite sparrows to observe and photograph.
Northern Mockingbird Displaying In Low Light
On a dark, cloudy morning on Antelope Island last month I had an opportunity with a displaying Northern Mockingbird. The shooting conditions were difficult but I decided to play at the edge of the limits of my gear and see what I could get. These shots are not sequential of the same take-off and landing but in the order I’ve presented them I think they illustrate the behavior reasonably well.
Male Western Kingbird Greeting His Lady
Male Western Kingbirds take no part in nest construction or incubation. Nor do they feed the female while she’s on the nest (she leaves the nest to feed several times per day). But he’s always there, seeming to offer encouragement and watch carefully over the proceedings.
Fledgling Yellow-headed Blackbird, Begging For And Then Receiving Food
I’ve been stuck in the house for what seems like an eternity because of the gloomy weather and lack of light. It rained all day yesterday (which is unusual for us here in the semi-desert) and I keep thinking of all the early summer bird activity I’m missing so this morning I reached back into the archives for some shots that would remind me of what I’m not seeing and photographing. I’m a glutton for punishment…
Wild Horses – A Possible, Partial New Solution To Their Management Problem On Our Public Lands
Last month I spent some time photographing the Onaqui herd of wild horses in Utah’s west desert. Management of wild horses on public lands is a contentious issue and the BLM has now proposed the use of a relatively new management tool in an attempt at reigning in the population increase of the Onaqui herd.
A Few More Birds (and a personal observation) From Our Recent Montana Camping Trip
This post is largely a collection of photos that documents some of the bird species I photographed on our recent camping trip to southwest Montana. Most of these images have flaws and as I’m prone to do I’ll be pointing those flaws out but for me each of the images has something positive to offer to make up for their shortcomings.
My Favorite Image From My Time With The Nest-building Kingbirds
Earlier this week I spent several mornings photographing a female Western Kingbird as she was constructing her nest. Out of the many hundreds of shots I took of her the third image in this post is my favorite.
Red-tailed Hawk Chicks (and my emotional attachment to them)
We’ve been keeping an eye on this Red-tailed Hawk nest in the west desert for about three years now.
Birds Using Bison Hair As Nesting Material
For millennia a variety of North American bird species used bison hair during nest construction but when the “buffalo” was brought to the brink of extinction by hunters in the late 1800’s that resource was essentially gone. Today there are relatively few places where bison hair is available to birds and Antelope Island is one of them.
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Intermediate-Morph Red-tailed Hawk And Juniper Berries
I’m no authority on the highly variable color variations of the Red-tailed Hawk but I believe this bird to be an intermediate-morph adult. I love these rufous-colored hawks.
Male Northern Harrier – Gray On Gray
I photographed this male Northern Harrier earlier this month as it hunted the causeway to Antelope Island. The grayish-browns of the bird are similar to the grays of the Great Salt Lake mudflats in the background. Monochromatic images like this may be an acquired taste for many and it was through the influence of my friend and photographer Richard Ditch that I learned to appreciate them.
An Update On The Red-tailed Hawk Chicks
Ten days ago I reported on the progress of the three Red-tailed Hawk nestlings I’ve been following out in the west desert. At that time several of my readers requested that I keep folks up to date on these birds as they approach fledging. This post is my attempt to do so.
Hovering Western Kingbird
It’s virtually unheard of for me to catch a kingbird in full flight (as opposed to take-off or landing) with any kind of image quality but two days ago I finally had some success in that arena.
Prairie Falcon With The Great Salt Lake As Background
Yesterday a comment from one of my readers on a recent post got me thinking about Prairie Falcons. In the comment “James” said ” I would love to see some more shots of the prairie falcon if you have any”. I’d been considering posting more images of this beautiful female and that comment prompted me to get off my duff and finally do it.
Lark Sparrow
The bold harlequin face pattern and unique courtship behaviors of the Lark Sparrow make it among my favorite sparrows to observe and photograph.
Northern Mockingbird Displaying In Low Light
On a dark, cloudy morning on Antelope Island last month I had an opportunity with a displaying Northern Mockingbird. The shooting conditions were difficult but I decided to play at the edge of the limits of my gear and see what I could get. These shots are not sequential of the same take-off and landing but in the order I’ve presented them I think they illustrate the behavior reasonably well.
Male Western Kingbird Greeting His Lady
Male Western Kingbirds take no part in nest construction or incubation. Nor do they feed the female while she’s on the nest (she leaves the nest to feed several times per day). But he’s always there, seeming to offer encouragement and watch carefully over the proceedings.
Fledgling Yellow-headed Blackbird, Begging For And Then Receiving Food
I’ve been stuck in the house for what seems like an eternity because of the gloomy weather and lack of light. It rained all day yesterday (which is unusual for us here in the semi-desert) and I keep thinking of all the early summer bird activity I’m missing so this morning I reached back into the archives for some shots that would remind me of what I’m not seeing and photographing. I’m a glutton for punishment…
Wild Horses – A Possible, Partial New Solution To Their Management Problem On Our Public Lands
Last month I spent some time photographing the Onaqui herd of wild horses in Utah’s west desert. Management of wild horses on public lands is a contentious issue and the BLM has now proposed the use of a relatively new management tool in an attempt at reigning in the population increase of the Onaqui herd.
A Few More Birds (and a personal observation) From Our Recent Montana Camping Trip
This post is largely a collection of photos that documents some of the bird species I photographed on our recent camping trip to southwest Montana. Most of these images have flaws and as I’m prone to do I’ll be pointing those flaws out but for me each of the images has something positive to offer to make up for their shortcomings.
My Favorite Image From My Time With The Nest-building Kingbirds
Earlier this week I spent several mornings photographing a female Western Kingbird as she was constructing her nest. Out of the many hundreds of shots I took of her the third image in this post is my favorite.
Red-tailed Hawk Chicks (and my emotional attachment to them)
We’ve been keeping an eye on this Red-tailed Hawk nest in the west desert for about three years now.
Birds Using Bison Hair As Nesting Material
For millennia a variety of North American bird species used bison hair during nest construction but when the “buffalo” was brought to the brink of extinction by hunters in the late 1800’s that resource was essentially gone. Today there are relatively few places where bison hair is available to birds and Antelope Island is one of them.