A Few of The "Great" Ones

I've encountered a few of the "great ones" lately. And they really are great from what I can tell.

This past Saturday my wife and I spent most of the day winterizing the home and yard and preparing for a large gathering of family for the Thanksgiving holiday. That's really "the" greatest--fun times with family, especially our two little grandchildren who will be coming from Arizona. After a long day of work around the home and shopping I had about 90 minutes to venture out before the sun went down.

I decided to drive down to the Provo Airport Dike in Provo, Utah. Upon my arrival I found a very quiet place. Birds and animals were nigh unto completely-absent. The sky was filled with heavy cloud cover, no rays of sunlight were penetrating the clouds anywhere, and there was a slow steady breeze that was rather chilly. Fifteen minutes into my adventure I began to think I'd have to go on an owl hunt. With birds and wildlife hunkering down I figured my best bet would be to go after a large bird with fewer hiding places than usual due to many of the leaves having fallen from the trees for the winter. I parked my truck and began to walk southward with the waters of Utah Lake to my right and very tall phragmite and woods to my left. I was scanning the wooded area where I had hopes of finding a Great Horned Owl.

When I go looking for owls I try to get multiple views of every likely hiding place. Yesterday, I made my first pass with no luck. However, on the second pass coming from a different angle I saw the shape of a Great Horned Owl. I don't know how to express that feeling of such a discovery in the wild.

Great Horned Owl on Provo Airport Dike in Provo, UT

Great Horned Owl on Provo Airport Dike in Provo, UT

This owl was very content in his hiding place away from the beaten path. He remained perched so I took a few other photos.

Great Horned Owl on Provo Airport Dike in Provo, UT

I'm including the image below because it shows a bit of the white trim on the half-blinked right eye of the owl.

Great Horned Owl on Provo Airport Dike in Provo, UT

The profile below provides a nice look at the ear tufts that give the owl its common name of "Great Horned" Owl.

Great Horned Owl on Provo Airport Dike in Provo, UT

Some people confuse Great Horned with Long-eared Owl because both have long tufts and yellow around their eyes. However, the Great Horned Owl shows more of a white throat and barring on the belly where Long-eared shows more of a bark-looking belly.

Great Horned on the left, Long-eared on the right.

            

The perspective below shows how multiple feathers create the tuft of Great Horned Owls.

Great Horned Owl on Provo Airport Dike in Provo, UT

On my way off the dike I caught a quick glance of what looked like the tufts of a Great Horned Owl. I backed up the truck, pulled out the binoculars and found another Great Horned Owl. Considering how close these owls were in proximity causes me to believe they are a pair, which may likely begin mating as early as January. These owls tend to begin breeding during the winter months.

Great Horned Owl on Provo Airport Dike in Provo, UT

I had a close encounter of the "Great Blue" kind about a week ago when I dropped by Sandy Pond in Sandy, Utah on my way home from work. There is almost always a Great Blue Heron on that pond. I thought the clouds with a slight pink cast from the setting sun provided a subtle beauty to the background. If I were a PhotoShop user I'd probably like to enhance the pinkish color in the background.

Great Blue Heron at Sunset in Sandy, UT

Here are a few other images of Great Blue Herons I've seen along the way. The next two are of a young Great Blue Heron. Adults have white crowns, this one is essentially blue.

Young Great Blue Heron American Fork Marina American Fork, UT

Young Great Blue Heron American Fork Marina American Fork, UT

Here's an adult Great Blue Heron sporting it white crown.

Great Blue Heron Long Beach, CA

And another adult in flight.

Great Blue Heron in Flight St George, UT

Great Egrets are beautiful birds.

Great Egret Utah County, UT

Great Egret Chandler, AZ

Great Egret in Flight in Lehi, UT

Great Egret Hunting in Lehi, UT

Great Egrets in Flight Over Lehi, UT

Now, from the big "great ones" to a much smaller great one. This one is great because of the size of its tail--the Great-tailed Grackle. These birds remind me of magpies in that they tend to show up where people are (e.g. parking lots, beaches, fast food restaurants, etc.) primarily because people tend to leave enough scraps around for the birds to cleanup/eat.

Great-tailed Grackle Chandler, AZ

Great-tailed Grackle at Playa Del Carmen, Mexico

The young and female Great-tailed grackles don't have such great tails.

Great-tailed Grackle Utah County, UT

Great-tailed Grackle Parked By a Red Curb Drinking Water in Wickenberg, AZ

Birds of Red, White, and Blue: Happy Independence Day!

The opportunity to travel freely from state to state in the vehicle of my choice with my family and friends and all my optical gear, field guides, smart phone, and so much more is afforded me because of the sacrifices of countless people. Some daily sacrifices seem small and essentially go unnoticed while others are more obvious and grand. Each of those sacrifices, regardless of scale, is sacred because individuals are giving of themselves for the benefit of others. Every wise choice made by freedom-loving people and their willingness to accept personal responsibility for their freedom help perpetuate the rule of law and make it possible for freedom to continue from generation to generation.

I'm posting this simple bird-styled tribute to our colors of freedom the day before we celebrate Independence Day in the United States of America to express my gratitude for all the people who love, safeguard, and perpetuate freedom with personal responsibility. I'll begin with one of my favorite images of our national bird and continue with some of my favorite images of birds that display the red, white, and blue colors of our nation's flag.

Happy Independence Day, America!

Bald Eagle at Lindon Marina in Lindon, UT

RED

Summer Tanager Near Zion National Park in Springdale, UT

Summer Tanager Near Zion National Park in Springdale, UT

I'm not sure what it is with Cardinals, but someone should have told the two below to wipe their bills before posing for my camera.

Northern Cardinal at Granite Reef Recreation Site Maricopa County, AZ

Northern Cardinal at Blue Point Picnic Area Maricopa County, AZ

Vermilion Flycatcher in St George, UT

WHITE

Great Egret at Pioneer Crossing in Lehi, UT

Great Egret at Veteran's Oasis Park Maricopa County, AZ

Snowy Egret Near Springville, UT

Snowy Egrets and One Cattle Egret Over Provo Airport Dike in Provo, UT

Cattle Egret on Cattle (of course) Near Lakeshore, UT

American White Pelican South Jordan, UT

American White Pelican Over Provo Airport Dike in Provo, UT

BLUE

Lazuli Bunting in Pleasant Grove, UT

Blue Grosbeak at Lindon Beach in Lindon, UT

Blue Grosbeak Near Palymyra, UT

Mountain Bluebird at Powder Mountain Ski Resort in Weber County, UT

Steller's Jay at Brighton Ski Resort in Salt Lake County, UT

Western Scrub-jay in Pleasant Grove, UT

Indigo Bunting at McConnell Springs in Lexington, KY

Great Blue Heron Long Beach, CA

Great Blue Heron at American Fork Boat Harbor in American Fork, UT

And we'll finish up with an image of a Greater Roadrunner I recently captured during my most recent road trip to southern Utah. Very few people realize that a bluish skin which take on a reddish color during breeding season exists just below the crown feathers of these unique birds. This guy is sporting a really cool bandanna with all three colors found on the flag of our country.

Greater Roadrunner Sporting His Really Cool Red, White, and Blue Bandanna on Lytle Ranch Road
in Washington County, UT

All my best to each of you and may God bless the USA!

Flapping, Scratching, and Stretching on Sandy Pond

There is a small community pond located near my place of work. It is one of many community/urban fisheries managed by the Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) in Utah. This particular pond is called Sandy Urban Fishery, but many local birders refer to it as Sandy Pond. I sometimes visit the pond during my lunch hour to see what birds are on or around the water. Because water in this pond is circulated it generally remains open despite freezing temperatures during winter months. Consequently, it draws birds year round. The DWR stocks many of the community ponds with fish on a regular basis so it is not unusual to see Herons, Pelicans, Cormorants, Gulls, Ducks, Osprey, and more, depending on the season, on or around the ponds.

During a couple of visits in recent days I've noticed a great deal of flapping, scratching, and stretching on and around the pond. The Redhead below appears to be attempting to balance himself and walk on water.

Flapping Redhead on Sandy Pond Sandy, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

That didn't quite work so he decided to scratch his head over the failed attempt. Or could he be tapping on his head to adjust his equilibrium?

Scratching Redhead on Sandy Pond Sandy, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

A shrug of the shoulders seems to bring a little relief to the tension he must be feeling now that he realizes he's being photographed for a crazy birder's blog post.

Shrugging Redhead on Sandy Pond Sandy, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

We have a Great Blue Heron, sporting a funky hairdo, that can almost always be found at the pond. It will either be standing on the small island in the middle of the pond, perched on a fence, or down by the Jordan River across the street from the pond.

Stretching Great Blue Heron Adult (white crown) at Sandy Pond Sandy, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Scratching Great Blue Heron at Sandy Pond in Sandy, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

A lone California Gull was flying circles around the pond and made a few passes around my position on the bank and the small floating dock from which I photographed the scratching Heron.

Flapping California Gull at Sandy Pond Sandy, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Below is a flapping female Redhead. It flew by quickly on a rather cloudy day so the lighting was a challenge in terms of capturing motion, but I thought it would make a good comparison to the female Lesser Scaup that did a fly-by today while the sun was doing a better job of lighting the subjects.

Female Redhead Flying Over Sandy Pond in Sandy, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Female Lesser Scaup at Sandy Pond Sandy, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)
Very similar to female Greater Scaup (uncommon in Utah) and female Redhead and Ring-necked Ducks. Female Scaups do not have the eye ring seen on female Redhead and Ring-necked Ducks. Flight feathers are more white than Redhead and Ring-necked Ducks, which appear more grayish.

Female Lesser Scaup at Sandy Pond Sandy, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)
Very similar to female Greater Scaup (uncommon in Utah) and female Redhead and Ring-necked Ducks. Female Scaups do not have the eye ring seen on female Redhead and Ring-necked Ducks. Flight feathers are more white than Redhead and Ring-necked Ducks, which appear more grayish.

I love the raptors so I have to include a scratching and stretching Merlin that was recently at the pond to do a little hunting.

Scratching Merlin at Sandy Pond Sandy, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)

Stretching Merlin at Sandy Pond Sandy, UT (Photo by Jeff Cooper)