Great Blue Herons...

are occupying their rookery  - actually called a herony - at milepost 9 on SR 128 (the "River Road" upstream of  Moab) in a grove of Gambel oaks on the opposite bank of the Colorado River.  I drive  this road between my place and the big city of  Moab, so this is a favorite place of mine to pull off and observe the activity.  Today I captured several good shots with my big lens.

Here's a nesting pair, with the one on the left having just returned from a fishing trip (click images to enlarge):

And no sooner did it arrive, off it goes again:

Note the heron sitting in the adjacent nest, in the lower-left of the image:

I'll strive to take some better images and share them in the future.  Meanwhile, learn more about Ardea herodias here.

Live nest cams...

in a gallery at Wired.com, featuring hummingbirds to emus and a lot more.  If you're not out hunting Easter eggs today then give these eggs a look.

First egg ready to hatch...

in a bald eagle nest in Decorah, Iowa, and you can watch via the eagle cam.

Condor chick about to hatch...

at the San Diego Zoo in the next day or so, and you can watch live via the on-line condor cam.  And don't forget about the eagle cam in Iowa where three eggs are expected to hatch by the end of the month.

Operation hatch-watch commences...

at this bald eagle nest in Iowa. There are three eggs in the nest being tended to by mom and dad, and the chicks are expected to hatch near the end of the month of March.  Enjoy.

I shot some eagles...

today with my long lens, and here's the bounty for the efforts.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I did while visiting Beauty Bay this late morning (click images to enlarge):

Two of more than thirty I spied today:

A juvenile in flight:

And an adult:

Artsy view of a perch:

And a tricked-out cell tower:

Image details: Canon EOS 30D with 400 mm EF lens on monopod.

Osprey at moonrise...

in the Jefferson River canyon near Three Forks, Montana (click to enlarge):

I need a bigger bird bath...

to accommodate the regular early-morning visits from several Great Horned Owls (click images to enlarge):

I spied three adult individuals competing for time in the bath this morning while the sprinkler pelted them with water:

And I just missed catching two at the same time sharing the much too small basin:

Apologies for the poor quality images and glare - I was snapping them surreptitiously through a window in pretty low light - but here's a reasonably decent shot:

Demoted...

Archaeopteryx Knocked From Roost as Original Bird

Live eagle cam...

spying on a nest in Iowa, with chicks about to hatch in the next several days, provided by the Raptor Resource Project.  Very cool.

UPDATE and BUMPED:  Eaglets are hatching!  Two of the three eggs have hatched.  Have a look.

Fast flight...

The morning march...

of California Quail (Callipepla californica) to my winter feeding station is a sight to behold, especially when they arrive by the hundreds.  Here are just two early arrivals, with their feathery coats puffed up against the winter chill.

This female pheasant...

(Phasianus colchicus) that's been hanging around my place the last few days has more meat on it than President Obama's speech this evening concerning the on-going oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Courtship is in the air...

this morning as a mating pair of black-chinned hummingbirds (Archilochus alexandri) engage in their ritual swooping. Here's the male taking a break from his vigorous aerobatics in a cottonwood tree (click to enlarge):

And here's the coquettish and (thus far) unimpressed female watching the aerial maneuvers of her suitor from some rabbitbrush:

It's a regular wild kingdom around here. Good luck, buddy!

UPDATE: More about hummingbird courtship dives.

Following through on a promise...

made a couple of days ago to shoot a western tanager (Piranga ludoviciana), I found this male adult - and several others - hopping around in a cottonwood tree this morning (click to enlarge).

Feathered friends...

populate a cottonwood tree this early evening, where dozens of finches impatiently wait for their turn at the thistle feeder (click to enlarge):

And here's a mediocre shot of two colorful male lazuli bunting (Passerina amoena), one of my favorite springtime visitors:

Several elusive western tanagers are also hanging out, and a skunk is also in residence, but I haven't had an opportunity to capture any of them with a camera. I promise to be more vigilant.

UPDATE: Here's a shot of another feeder this morning, with a bounty of bunting seeking breakfast:

Marking its territory with song...

this morning, a Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta) kept me company while perched high in a cottonwood tree, as I tended to the irrigation system (click to enlarge). Here's its rich song.

Image details: Canon EOS 30D with 70-300 mm EF zoom lens.

Great blue herons...

are beginning to flock to their rookery along the Colorado River near milepost 9 on Utah 128, between Moab and Castle Valley, Utah. Here's a wide shot of several of their nests in a Gamble oak grove on the opposite side of the river (click to enlarge):

And a close-up of one of the big ladies (Ardea herodias) standing in the apical nest:

I've counted as many as a dozen nests in this cluster, and most are usually occupied by late spring based on my prior observations.

Mad goose attacks...

Diving kingfisher...

caught in the act. Here's how it was done by photographer Adrian Groves (click to enlarge).

Absolutely fantastic.