birding, photography and living with pet birds
Posted in corvid on Sep 15th, 2012
I’m having the same reaction this fall that I’ve had since living in Utah where I can’t be excited about fall because it means all the birds leave and I’m left living in a cold place devoid of interesting birds. I’m especially concerned this year because I’m addicted to biking and running to work and [...]
I finally made it Mirror Lake this summer. We arrived around 1:00pm yesterday with a picnic lunch. Just as we were finishing lunch the sky opened up and the heavens poured down. It’s been such a strange summer because it usually never rains in Utah, and all the rain seems to occur during the weekend. [...]
Posted in corvid on Feb 11th, 2012
Last week I went to California and I rented the Nikon 500mm f/4 lens through borrowlenses.com. This lens is amazing! I rushed to Golden Gate Park to take pictures and within two minutes, I had fantastic shots of a Steller Jay. Do you see how fine the edges of the feathers are? You can’t get [...]
Posted in corvid on Oct 8th, 2011
I love going to Mirror Lake. It’s such a beautiful spot for a picnic. Both times we visited I saw Clark’s Nutcrackers. Nutcrackers eat the seeds of pine trees, which explains why half of my pictures have him on top of pine trees. You would not believe how loud this guy is. I thought it [...]
Posted in corvid on Aug 11th, 2011
There is one place in Utah where I have without fail always seen at least one Black-billed Magpie: Red Butte Garden. They like the trees and I think they prefer the higher elevations. In the past week, the magpies have been hanging out in my neighborhood. This guy was peeling the pain off of my [...]
Posted in corvid on May 6th, 2011
The United States has many different kinds of jays. There are the Blue Jays that I grew up with in New England. There are the Stellar Jays and Scrub Jays that I discovered after moving to California. Arizona has Mexican Jays. They look exactly like Scrub Jays without the white eyebrows and white bib. Here’s [...]
Posted in corvid, eagle, hawk, magpie, woodpecker on Mar 11th, 2011
Last Saturday I went birding. There weren’t a ton of birds but I think I did really well for March. American Flicker I started in my favorite part in Heber, UT. This is where I saw my first Sandhill Crane and moose. This time I saw an American Flicker and a Scrub Jay. Even though [...]
I saw so many birds in South Carolina! I hope you didn’t think that you were done seeing east coast birds. This is a Blue Jay. Blue Jays are awesome! They will boss you around in your own yard. The Blue Jay is Audrey’s favorite bird. Blue Jays go “dee-deet” when they’re calling. It’s a [...]
This weekend we spend two days at the Deseret Ranch in eastern Utah/Wyoming. I’m still working on the photos, which are fantastic, so instead I leave you with a Scrub Jay. Scrub Jays are pretty common in Utah. I’ve seen them in my backyard for example. They have an amazing ability to find peanuts that [...]
Posted in corvid on Aug 1st, 2010
It’s been awhile since I discussed Black-Billed Magpies. I’ve gotten my wish to live among magpie and it’s great. There aren’t a lot in my yard, but I always see them in the Red Butte Gardens. Just look in the tops of trees. Check out his tail, it’s so long! Have you ever heard [...]