Nine photos of eight species.
Occasionally I post a collection of recent bird photos I’ve taken that may not be worthy of standalone status on my blog but still deserve to be seen. And hopefully enjoyed. Each of these photos was taken in northern Utah within the last ten days.
A Western Meadowlark preening soon after sunrise. In this situation, birds usually have their eyes partially or completely closed but this time the bird’s left eye was open and I even got light in the eye. I like the visual tension provided by the plant stems leaning one direction with the bird’s wing pointed in the opposite direction.
An adult Red-tailed Hawk in flight. This is one of the few red-tails I’ve photographed this spring.
A Rock Wren that simply refused to come in close so this photo has been cropped significantly. I like the rocky perch and lichen colors.
A Killdeer incubating eggs in its nest on the edge of a remote dirt road. Yes, I’m concerned about the vulnerability of the nest. At least the nest is incredibly well camouflaged but that won’t protect it from vehicles, including the occasional huge truck. I wish I could pick the nest up and move it about two feet to the west.
A Sandhill Crane skimming low over the phrags. At times the crane’s wingtips were below the phrag plumes and partially hidden by them. I believe my active focus point locked onto the bird’s left wingtip so its head isn’t quite sharp.
A mated pair of Northern Shovelers in tandem flight. I wish I’d been closer.
Another Western Meadowlark soon after takeoff from sagebrush. Once again, the head of the bird is a little soft.
A mated pair of Clark’s Grebes in a tender moment. The larger male is on the right.
A mama Great Horned Owl trying to keep her chicks warm in the bitter cold at the crack of dawn.
It was 29° F. and there was a biting breeze so while I was there the youngsters never even poked their heads up. When this photo was taken the orb of the rising sun had only partially cleared the faraway mountains to the east. Only seconds later the light was so warm the entire setting turned red. This is the first photo I got where there was enough light on the owl to put a visible catch light in her eye, which in this light looks almost black.
The eyes of adults are actually “bright lemon chrome yellow” but you’d never know it from this photo.
Ron
Sensational series!
This is a WONDERFUL birdpourri to start my day (late) on. Thank you.
I love the synchronicity of the shovellers, and that is a very tender moment the grebes allowed you to share with us.
Thank you. Again.
Thanks very much, EC.
Love today’s Birdpourri! Especially like the grebes — they have such interesting behaviors. 💜
Spring is definitely in the air with all the mating pairs and mamas! Our neighborhood Mallard female has her trio-of-males entourage back. Yesterday was the first time I’ve seen all 4 of them together in quite some time.
Thank you, Marty. I agree about the interesting behaviors of grebes. I thought these two lovebirds might “rush” while I was with them but this time it didn’t happen. So far this year I’ve struck out on photographing them rushing. Soon, hopefully.
You captured a surprising “circle” of action in the preening meadowlark shot–stems blowing to the right, head and neck
curving sharply back to the wing extending to our left –an unusual
and very dynamic image! And that of mother horned owl is so active with texture; you must have pressed the button JUST as the sun
rose over the horizon– it’s a great illustration of the power of “raking” light– fine show this morning– thanks !
Kris, it’s amazing how fast that light on the owl changed, and how fast its color changed, as the sun peeked over the mountains. I had to get up at what seemed like the middle of the night in order to get there before sunrise, but it was worth it just to experience it.
Thanks for this group of photos! Just the thing with a morning cup of coffee. I love the shot of the Grebes – it seems like “stand alone” quality to me!
Thanks, Joanne. That grebe shot is pretty good – better than some of the others.
Wonderful “buffet” of birds this morning! 🙂 We get the baby Killdeer running down our lane in front of the vehicles at times. GHOW’s are ALWAYS a treat for me. Luv the insync Shovelers.
After a few days of spring the snow/cold (into the teens at night) came back – not quite as cold last night at 34. Daffodils NOT amused.
“Bird buffet” or “buffet of birds”. Sounds like a potential title for a blog post.
I’m itching to get more of my garden in but I know that would be pushing it for the more tender plants.
Wow! Great timing photo of the paired Shovelers. Instantly thought of synchronized swimmers.
Thanks, Donald. I got quite a few sharp shots of the shovelers in flight but they sure weren’t very close.