Rather than put on my mental blinders, drive to a great bird habitat, and hope for a really cool first-of-the-year bird (which I've done on previous New Year Days), I chose to look out the kitchen window to see what ordinary bird might be visiting my feeders. I observed a lone Lesser Goldfinch.
I saw other birds during the morning and along a short drive, but the very first species to present itself for a photo-op was American Crow. My good birding friend, Eric Peterson, and I came across a small flock that was frolicking in some freshly-fallen snow in a junior high school parking lot. American Crow is a bird I see in Utah about three or four times a year and they are generally in flight while I'm driving on a freeway or other busy road when I do see them so it was not a bird I expected to have in my first images of 2013.
Crows are very intelligent birds. Check out some cool facts and information on American Crows shared by Cornell University's Lab of Ornithology by clicking
HERE.
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| American Crow in Snow at Canyon View Jr High in Orem, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper) |
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| American Crow Foraging in Snow at Canyon View Jr High in Orem, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper) |
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| American Crow Foraging in Snow at Canyon View Jr High in Orem, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper) |
Eric and I eventually spent some time at the Provo City Cemetery in Provo, Utah chasing after a mis-guided Northern Parula that has been seen multiple times in the past week and then again hours after we missed it and left. Some you get and some you don't. However, we did see a small flock of Red Crossbills, which I see maybe once a year in Utah so finding some on day one was a good omen for a new year of birding. We managed to photograph a few Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Red-breasted Nuthatches to finish our first bird outing of the year.
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| Ruby-crowned Kinglet in Provo City Cemetery Provo, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper) |
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| Red-breasted Nuthatch in Provo City Cemetery Provo, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper) |
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| Ruby-crowned Kinglet in Provo City Cemetery Provo, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper) |
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| Red-breasted Nuthatch in Provo City Cemetery Provo, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper) |
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Ruby-crowned Kinglet in Provo City Cemetery Provo, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)
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Super shots Jeff, really great stuff.
ReplyDeleteI marvel at how many great photos you come away with from each outing.
You are very generous, Laurence. Thank you! I am grateful for digital photography. I don't think I could survive if I had to pay for the film for every bad shot I've managed to produce.
DeleteMy first bird of the year was a Northern Flicker, and today I saw Rubies and RB Nuthatch. Thanks for sharing Jeff, as always beautiful pics.
ReplyDeleteCarolina
Gracias, Carolina! Usted es muy amable!
ReplyDeleteEnjoying your pictures. I'm a fellow bird blogger from Eastern Washington.
ReplyDeletehttp://birdladyblog.blogspot.com/
Thank you, Sherrie, for visiting my blog and leaving such a kind comment. I'm going to take a look at your blog.
ReplyDelete