![\"gadwall-9025-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/gadwall-9025-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThis selection of seven photos\u00a0is a fairly representative cross-section of the bird species I’ve been seeing recently. None\u00a0of them are\u00a0prize-winners but that’s sort of my point.\u00a0Rather than feature one or two images that are special in some way it’s my intention here to give readers a feeling for some of the birds present in northern Utah this time of year. Each of these images was taken in the last couple of weeks.<\/p>\n
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1\/2000, f\/6.3, ISO 800, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n This male Gadwall and his mate have been hanging out with the relatively tame Mallards at a pond near my home. Normally I wouldn’t be able to get anywhere near this close to wild Gadwalls but I think “tameness”\u00a0can be\u00a0contagious to some degree – these two ducks see that the Mallards have no fear of nearby vehicles so it gives them a feeling of security. At least that’s my theory…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/3200, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n This is an adult White-crowned Sparrow photographed in the phrags and snow at Farmington. This species is the most common sparrow in the areas I regularly haunt.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/5000, f\/6.3, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n I seldom get a chance at a Snow Goose so I was pretty tickled to find this one yesterday at a different pond near my home. This bird was hanging out with several hundred Canada Geese so it stood out like a sore thumb. The image is a fairly large crop and only of documentary quality.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/5000, f\/7.1, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n A Prairie Falcon on a pole in Box Elder County. Typically I can’t get anywhere near these guys but this one seemed to take a shine to me and stuck as I approached so I decided to oblige it with my camera despite the hated wire and insulator and the steep angle.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/3200, f\/8, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n I’m not sure what this\u00a0Great Blue Heron at Farmington was trying to do when it raised its wings and flapped them slowly a few times as it waded forward in the water\u00a0but I thought it was an interesting pose and I liked the shadow of its long neck and head on the wing (though I do wish the shadow had included the beak).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/2000, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n This is one of the three male Redheads that have been hanging out on the same pond I found the Snow Goose on. I’ve attempted to photograph these ducks a half-dozen times in the last few days but only once did they come in close enough to me for decent photos.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n And finally, an American Kestrel with a vole at Farmington. I wasn’t particularly close to her but I loved\u00a0this pose. There’s a vole gut pile on the post and it almost looked like in her daintiness she was trying to avoid despoiling her clean right foot as she ate.<\/p>\n As of late I’m paying more attention than usual to the number and variety of birds in my area and I can’t help but be alarmed at their relative scarcity compared to past years. I fear that the drought, overuse of water resources by industry and agriculture and the resulting dramatic reduction in the size of the Great Salt Lake (its surface area is only 29% of its former self)\u00a0has had a disastrous effect on bird populations in general in Northern Utah.<\/p>\n And that thought depresses me.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n PS – Sadly, my problems with Comcast continue. Many readers are having no problems with my posts but for others some images or the entire blog won’t load. We’re doing our best to solve the problem…<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This selection of seven photos is a fairly representative cross-section of the bird species I’ve been seeing recently.<\/p>\n![\"white-crowned-sparrow-8840-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/white-crowned-sparrow-8840-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"snow-goose-9247-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/snow-goose-9247-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"prairie-falcon-9652-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/prairie-falcon-9652-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"great-blue-heron-3473-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/great-blue-heron-3473-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"redhead-9120-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/redhead-9120-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"american-kestrel-8920-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/american-kestrel-8920-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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