My first large bird I photographed was a Long-Bill Curlew. It was March and I was driving to Bear river when I spotted two big birds with long curvy bills on the open field. They blended so well in their habitat that my camera had a difficult time focusing but luckily I got a few […]
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I noticed a male Mule Deer when I was leaving Antelope Island. He was far away and I decided to walk toward him. It didn’t take long time to realize that he wasn’t alone. Three beautiful females were with him. The female deer were shy and all the time hiding but this one was curious […]
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I always wanted to see an owl, any owl. I have never seen this bird in the wild. Yesterday I went to Garr ranch on Antelope Island determined finally to see an owl. My previous three trips to this ranch weren’t successful. There weren’t owls around or I didn’t see them. Luckily, yesterday I met […]
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Today I saw two ducks I have never seen before at the Beau pond. They were so different among local crowd. How did they find their way to our local pond? Are they going to stay there for the winter? Or they are transitory? Later I tried to find out what kind of ducks they […]
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We call our mistakes experience. We like to think about failures as one step forward. But no matter what names you give to your mistakes and failures you always wish that they would never happen. I was leaving park on a Saturday morning not expecting anything. My camera’s battery was on low and I didn’t bother to […]
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Went to Farmington Bay to see what is going there. The first bird I saw was the male Red-Winged Blackbird. There were a few of them but this one stayed close. The males are all black with a red shoulder and yellow wing bar.The females are not so impressive, they are just light brown.
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There were four of them on the mountains. At first, I didn’t dare to climb there, I was scared of bisons. But bisons weren’t around and I started to climb. Climbing wasn’t difficult at all. I looked for rocks trying to get around them and moved slowly trying not to scare deers. Once I looked […]
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Pine seeds can be so delicious for squirrels. They gather cones during fall and burry them close to their nests to have food during winter months. Bon Appetit!
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I was so fascinated by Wild Turkeys that I came next day to the same place and to my surprise they were there. This time I could come even closer, they weren’t scared of me, just did what they were doing before, napping, resting and cleaning. Something was special about the broken tree, it became […]
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I found Chukar at Farmington Bay. There were two of them but one was hiding in the tall grass and another was peacefully wondering around. Sometimes she stopped for a short nap, then continued with her usual route.
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Wild and beautiful. Perhaps, not so beautiful but interesting. I love their faces, eyes, long necks and feathers. I met Wild Turkeys in our local park. There were six of them. At the beginning they gave me a hard to get closer to them, they ran away from me but not so far. I tried […]
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I wish I could predict birds behavior. Probably, it takes a lot of practice to learn this skill. Meanwhile, I was waiting when Great Blue Heron would take off and I would be able to take a photo of this beautiful bird in flight. And when the heron took off I wasn’t ready and missed […]
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I took these photographs in August 23, 2018. There were many avocets at Bear River at that time and they sometimes would come very close to you. Later they would never do it. Probably matured and became more careful. This avocet is preening himself. When the whole business of preening would be over the avocet […]
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Golden hours… Of course, I knew about them but only theoretically. I knew that they usually happen at sunrise and last one to two hours after. To experience these golden hours I got up at 5 am which I have never done before and planned to get to Bear river at seven. When I left […]
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Almost every bird at Bear river has its favorite spot. This Great blue heron found a little island of dry plants. He often stands like a stick there waiting and watching. Pelicans sometimes are passing by. No reaction. I tried to photograph this heron a few times but he never let me do it, always […]
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In October cowboys and cowgirls will arrive on horses on Antelope island for the annual roundup. They will bring all bisons to the corall where animals would be checked for health. Meanwhile, bisons are free. Sometimes certain species of birds are feeding on insects they find in the bison’s fur. The bison in the dust. […]
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American White pelicans are still at Bear river but they rarely seen in big colonies at the end of summer. These pelicans decided to have a family reunion on a log. They shared a place with two cormorants. I tried to fit all of birds in one frame but it didn’t work well. I gave […]
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Soon it will be time to say goodbye to special bird friends like White-faced ibises. In September they will depart for their more southerly wintering areas. I will miss them.
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May. Farmington Bay. Great egrets. I never left my car taking pictures of these birds, only from time to time moved from a driver’s seat to a passenger seat. I was learning how to do it quickly and smoothly. The birds stayed so close to the shore and that was what I needed. They were […]
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Dance like there is nobody watching.
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The first breath of autumn in the mountains. Yesterday I read a saying from a boy named Nkosi Johnson, who lived in South Africa. Like many children there, Nkosi was born with HIV, and he died when he was twelve. He had a mantra, as he called it. This mantra touched my heart deeply: “Do […]
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I photographed hummingbirds three days in a row. On the first day humming birds stayed far away from me. On the second they were a little closer. On the third day hummingbirds were comfortable with my presence. I wonder did they recognize me? Did they trust me? I think they did. When I shared my […]
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At the beginning of a meeting. And at the end. These birds are Bank swallows.
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Mama Hummingbird is feeding her baby. Never let your dreams be just… I dreamed to take just one picture of a Hummingbird in flight. I was trying and failing, trying again and failing again but I never felt frustrated or unhappy. I said to myself that it will be another day, another week, another year […]
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A few steps how Snowy Egret eats his fish. First, he tries to position fish that he could comfortably to swallow it. Still working on it. Snowy Egret starts swallowing fish. Fish is in his throat. It’s time to look for another fish.
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Cormorant… I met him two weeks ago. He was swimming forward and back, making a few circles there and here with fish in his mouth. He had a difficult time to swallow it. I was following him with my camera almost in the same pattern only on a shore. Eventually Cormorant swallowed his fish and […]
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Just like that the King of the world aka Great blue heron was looking at his desert. Joking. I was so happy to find him standing on a pole and hoped that he would be kind and give me a chance to get his pictures. And the King was kind I got a few decent […]
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My infatuation with butterflies was always strong. I like these little creatures for their fragility and grace. Their wings are so colorful and beautiful. Butterflies are like flying flowers with singing and dancing souls.
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That was a cloudy evening on Bear river and I had a difficult time sometimes to get a proper shutter speed. When I saw this bird the sun came out from under clouds for a few seconds and I was able to take a few pictures of her. I believe this is a female Yellow-headed […]
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I never thought that some day I would be able to take a picture of a humming bird. First, I was trying to capture her when she was in the air and beating her wings very fast but it was impossible. After a few attempts I gave up and just watched a humming bird and […]
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Time flies. It seems that only recently was March and I was learning how to photograph American avocets in flight. The whole experience was exciting but not very promising and often frustrating. Looking at these photographs I think how elegant and beautiful these birds were, how excited I was watching them and taking photos. Things […]
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There are hundreds of pelicans at the Bear river in July. They are on the shore close to each other and immature ones are very curious exploring the river. Immature pelicans are adventurous, they come close to you. This time of year American white pelicans are staying at Bear river in feeding flocks gorging […]
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There were eight little ducklings by the pond sleeping and moving sometimes. Unfortunately,they were quiet far away. My first pictures didn’t look good on the screen of my camera. I thought if I move little by little closer perhaps I can get a few decent pictures. I also thought if I would be at the […]
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Snowy Egret was preening himself with his beautiful wings spread wide, he was examining every feather carefully aligning them in the way that he could fly easily. I read also that the birds during the preening spread the oil onto each feather to keep them clean and healthy.
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A young brave grebe eventually got closer to the shore and then a couple showed up . I was hoping that some of these grebes would perform a show for me running across the water as part of their courtship ritual, but none of them did. Their courtship ritual will continue through July. I still […]
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There were three Long-billed Curlews; mama, a baby and dad. Mama tried to stay close to her baby and dad was wondering on his own, far away from his family. The baby decided to cross the road and that was the last time his mama and I saw him. He went into tall grass and […]
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I met her yesterday. She found the way from the mountains to our field and then to our yard where she stayed for awhile, drank water from the neighbor’s bird bath and left. This morning she visited us again and gave me an opportunity to take her pictures. There was a long silent staring at […]
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When I saw this beautiful heron I thought no way I could get his picture. The moment I leave my car the heron would be gone. I got out of my car anyway. I do this often even I am sure that I would not be able to get a picture. I noticed that I […]
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Contrary to their name these gulls are the state bird of Utah. They are migratory birds move to the Pacific coast in winter. That is only then this bird is regularly found in California. California gulls nest in colonies. The female usually lays 2 or 3 eggs. Both parents are very responsible and feed their […]
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Sometimes you wait for the moment to come, you forget about time and space, you are all anticipation and hope. You wait for luck to happen. And if it happens everything falls into its place; the birds are still, no gusts of wind, the water is so calm and if the wind suddenly blows up […]
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Inspiration comes when you see them. They are so light, fragile and elegant. And then you remember that their life is so short. Some butterflies live one day another two or more days. Such a short life but probably for a butterfly it’s an eternity.
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< My last visit to Farmington Bay was great, I saw again Snowy egrets. The male was so close that I was able to take his portrait. The female was more cautious. She all the time stayed far away. It's interesting that snowy egrets are not the early birds, they usually show up on a […]
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Farmington bay, Snowy egret.
Read MoreThe Black-crowned night heron is looking for food. He does it mainly in the night time or early morning. He would stand still for a long time at the water’s edge very alert looking for prey. And then he would finally would catch a frog. He swallows a frog whole. I missed the moment – […]
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Sticks are usually gathered by male Snowy egret and presented to the female. The female Snowy egret (in the background) was so busy cleaning herself that the male Great Egret changed his mind and dropped his stick.
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Every prey bird always looks over its shoulder while hunting. A bold eagle is different. It’s absolutely fearless.
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Farmington Bay. Snowy Egret Once Robert Frank said to Annie Leibovitz that you can’t take every picture. It’s sometimes impossible. That is exactly what these pictures are about. I wish that Snowy Egret would be more close. I wish that he would not hide from time to time in the grass but reality was […]
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Two geese were fighting over their territory. It was an ugly fight and a white goose was hurt hopefully not badly. I feel sorry for him.
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