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.
I often photograph Bald Eagles in Utah during winter but for me those images have a different mood (for lack of a better word) because they’re often taken near urban environments and for me they don’t convey the feeling of wildness that I so love about the Centennial Valley. And I very seldom get anything “green” in my Utah Bald Eagle images taken in winter.
At this point in my photography “career” it’s unusual for me to get a new lifer but lately I’ve been on a roll.
So far this year Swainson’s Hawk populations seem to be a little spotty. I’m finding them in normal concentrations in some areas but in others where there’s been good numbers of them in the past they seem to be rare or nonexistent. I’m not really alarmed about it, rather I suspect this is just one more example of localized bird numbers being difficult to predict.
Last week on our Montana camping trip the House Wrens were incredibly persistent when trying to get long or awkwardly-shaped twigs into the nest holes in the aspen.
During our Montana camping trip last week we found a dead aspen that had five nest holes in various stages of excavation and use.
Without a doubt the most colorful bird I photographed on my camping trip last week was the male Western Tanager.
Two days ago as I was photographing this dark morph Swainson’s Hawk on a power pole something completely unexpected happened and this time I was ready for it.
In this case the old friend is a beloved lens and the kindness remembered was from my cousin Ken Dudley.
Great Horned Owl chicks at this stage are inquisitive, adventuresome, cute and clumsy – all of which makes them wonderful photography subjects.
Short-eared Owls are a favorite subject of mine and I particularly enjoy flight sequences that highlight habitat.
My plan this morning was to make a simple, single image post but with a snowstorm predicted for today I began to reminisce about my last Montana camping venture and decided to take a trip down memory lane with this post. I hoped to make one last visit to Montana before winter set in but I’ve now faced the grim reality that it just isn’t going to happen. These images were all taken in mid-September in and near the Centennial Valley.
This past summer I photographed several active Ferruginous Hawk nests and was impressed by their size differences and the variation in elevations of the nests from the ground. Each of these nests was photographed in southwest Montana in June of this year.
Because of their flocking habits and unpredictable nomadic movements Cedar Waxwings have always been elusive for me. My best luck with them has always been in Montana and each of these shots was taken in the Centennial Valley in the southwest part of that state
